And while those families must gather the strength to bury their loved ones who died from COVID, eight families are also mourning the children that never grew up. Those are the mothers, father, aunts, cousins, and siblings of the minors that were killed this year alone. And for one mother who has been living with the murder of her son since 2016, seeing these children die only re-ignites the anguish and anger.
Shakera Young Forrester lost her 7-year-old son, Tyler Savery, almost 5 years ago after he and his cousin were gunned down on Daly Street while going to buy a milkshake.
And for Forrester, to lose two family members while still grieving her son's father who was fatally shot two years prior…well, it wasn't easy to keep going.
But she did, and, now, years later, she is still advocating for families who must do the same. Today, we caught up with her to find out how the past five years have been, and to get her reaction to the murders of innocent children we've seen in recent months. Courtney Menzies has this story.
When a teenager is innocently gunned down, mothers across the country who have lost their children to gun violence get flashbacks of their own grief.
And one mother who lost her 7-year-old son almost 5 years ago says she is running out of hope – especially after the killings of 8 minors in the past two months.
Shakera Young Forrester - Founder, Tyler Savery Foundation
"I have one word, angry. I think over the past couple years I've reached to the place where you know a part of you will always say I hope it stops, and then you're at this place now where you're realizing it's not getting better."
And Shakera Young Forrester spoke from her own experience, saying that while it feels like the country is on your side in the beginning, that flame eventually fizzles out.
Shakera Young Forrester
"Today somebody is killed, oh my goodness, I am outraged, I want justice, and then two weeks after, nobody remembers, and just let's be real, nobody remembers, the only people that actually remember is the people who have to learn to live without their children and that is us the mothers."
And that process of healing after losing your child is nowhere near easy. It took Forrester time and support to start to mend those open wounds. And she says it's the same for the women who are a part of her foundation.
Shakera Young Forrester
"There are days when some of them can't get out of bed, there are days when some of them don't know how to breathe because their life was taking care of their child and so that was a part of them breathing and now they have lost that and so even though some days it's okay, there are some days when it comes back to them that my child isn't here anymore and it's hurting because the child didn't even get to be an adult so it's always emotional, some days are good, some days are bad but I will tell you there are more bad days than good. 5:32if you have the help that you need like I did, as the years go by you end up learning how to cope, how to accept that your loved one, your child will not come back home, you learn how to accept it but still there are days when birthdays come up, when Christmas comes up, when mother's day comes up, it is even harder and if you do not have support it can cause you to go in a different state mentally and emotionally."
Forrester added that even the children who see these incidents happening need counseling.
Shakera Young Forrester
"The children in my son's classroom, they had to do go through individual counseling from their parents because they could not understand why would you shoot a 7 year old, mommy, I am going to school today, could I be next? They killed Tyler, am I going to die next? Teacher, am I going to die next?"
And while this mother never got the justice she and her little boy deserved, she is inviting the mothers who recently lost their children to reach out to her for support.
Shakera Young Forrester
"If they would want to just come and sit down and have a discussion, they're free to do that. We've also had wellness session where we have the ladies meet online with a professional counselor to find out how to be well because emotional wellness, psychological wellness, all of that is very important after you have gone through the trauma that we have gone through."
If you've experienced a loss due to gun violence and would like to reach out to Forrester, she can be contacted on Facebook through the Tyler Savery Foundation page or at phone number 613-0821.
