My story and nightmare started January 26, 2021.
That day started out as a normal day, other than I called off work. I wasn’t feeling well. My son Haylen had stayed with a friend next door. Around 10 to 11 a.m., I had his sister text him, telling him it was time to come home. He responded with the normal “tell mom I’ll be home after I finish this game and clean my room, sis.”
Three p.m. rolls around, and I hear sirens. My stomach sank to my toes. I had a terrible feeling in my bones. I ran outside and down the street to find officers. I asked what had happened, they asked who I was, I told them my name. One officer looked at me and said, “your son was involved in a shooting, and it is serious.” They would not let me see him; he was life-flighted to the children’s hospital. After 24 hours, my son was pronounced brain dead. He was shot in his temple, destroying his entire brain. The moment in the hospital and saying goodbye destroyed me as a mother.