The mother of a University of Massachusetts student who was killed in Washington, D.C. earlier this year was overcome with emotion after President Trump mentioned his case while vowing to clean up crime in the capital.

“I said Eric, you didn’t die in vain,” Tamara Tarpinian-Jachym said through tears. “You’re going to make DC safe, Eric, you didn’t die in vain.”

President Trump says the federal takeover of DC is to reduce crime in the capital and mentioned several recent instances of violent crime, including the death of UMass student Eric Tarpinian-Jachym, 21, of Granby, who was a rising senior at UMass and was interning on Capitol Hill for Rep. Ron Estes.

Police say he was hit by a stray bullet during a dispute between two groups.

“His ashes are under my TV set,” Tarpinian-Jachym told

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