On October 9, 2019, at 11:00 a.m., my son Jonathan was walking home from the local store with a neighborhood friend. A car pulled up and changed the world forever. A vehicle with multiple people inside pulled up and started shooting. Jonathan was the victim in the drive-by shooting and hit with a bullet meant for someone else. As I raced to the hospital, many of my friends and family were already there waiting for news on Jon.
Unfortunately, the news was tragic. The doctor told me that Jon was brain-dead and would no longer be the boy I knew and loved. I was able to lay with him until he passed, holding him, hearing and feeling the last beat of his heart. He was then pronounced dead from the gunshot wounds.
I live with an unbearable heartache, and each day I relive the pain of losing Jon. Two and a half years later, I still have a hard time sleeping, and most nights I wake up in the middle of the night crying. I am still in disbelief that my son is not physically here with me. I am tortured every day that my son’s killer still remains free!