HE was hoping for his break that would put him on the world stage as an entertainer like his adopted father and friend Ritchie Stevens, but the voice of 22-year-old Demar Graham, whose stage name was Copper Cat, was silenced late Thursday night by a single shot to his chest outside the gate of his Kingston 10 home.

“Can someone tell me this is a dream,” pleaded Stevens who struggled to come to terms with the reality that the 14-year relationship he had with Graham had come to a tragic end. Only a few hours before he had dropped off Graham at the nearby MegaMart store along Waterloo Road where he had gone to purchase credit for his new BlackBerry phone.

While at Carlos’ Cafe where he was about to have a drink with his wife, Stevens said he got a call from a friend who enquired if everything was alright. He assured his caller that he was happy because he had life. “So is not true then that Copper get stab up?” the caller questioned.

A sick feeling suddenly came over the entertainer who called home as well as Graham’s cellphone, but he was no more the wiser. He hastily departed for MegaMart where Graham was well-known, and although it was after closing hours Stevens enquired of the security officer if he had seen his son.

He was told that Graham had left earlier. With the hope that he would find him sleeping at home, perhaps unknown to the others including Stevens’ mother, he set off for Graham’s house.

“It was the worst feeling I had, policemen and people gathered at my gate with the yellow tape already in place,” he said. “I asked a policeman what happened and he said they shot the young man and he is lying on the road.”

Stevens, obviously shaken, held on to his vehicle for support. It was surreal. “My son killed at my gate!” he lamented.

The evidence suggested that at about 10:30 pm Graham was shot at his gate at close range with a nine-milimetre calibre pistol from which the gunman fired one shot in his chest. Graham ran but collapsed about 15 metres away. His cellphone was missing and only the earpiece was seen inches from the gate of his home.

Many from the music fraternity, including Beres Hammond and Jimmy Riley, descended on the home and spoke of the close relationship they had with the well-mannered and budding entertainer.

Graham was only eight years old when stole Stevens’ heart and was taken from Westmoreland to Kingston. He attended Stella Maris Prep and then Jamaica College where he passed eight subjects.

“I saw him on Tuesday, Hammond said. “I hugged him tight and said you are a loyal man,” he continued with tears swelling in his eyes. “We teach them love and they return it with hate.”

Graham last performed as one of the opening acts at Sting on Boxing Day. According to Howard McIntosh, one of the directors of the music festival, the young artiste had matured and it was only a matter of time before his skills as a deejay would have hit the world stage.

Detectives from Half-Way-Tree and the Major Investigation Task Force are conducting investigations.