My son Derrick Ellis, who was 15 at the time, was killed in June 2005 by three young men who didn’t know him. They decided to take a shotgun from one of the young men’s parents’ garage and shoot it down the street on which we lived. My son was outside with his friends in our front yard, sitting on the split-rail fence, when he was struck by buckshot in the head. He was pronounced brain-dead 19 hours later at our local hospital. At that time we (my daughter, husband and I) decided to make Derrick an organ donor. His gift of life changed 32 people’s lives for the better.
The three young men received 15 years, 15 years and 69 years respectively. Two of them have served their terms, and they have been released from jail. I live with my son’s loss every day while two are back home with their families and one still sits in jail, alive and able to see their families. I miss him every day.
Derrick W. Ellis, 10/4/89 – 6/21/05.