‘I have a hole in my heart that will never be filled’

Her son was killed in 2011. It was a case of mistaken identity.

“I was living in New Orleans, and my son had invited me to dinner. He went to the store before going to the bus stop to pick up his uncle. But someone was watching him. They had a hit out on somebody, and my son was driving a Charger that was the same color as that other person’s car. When my son was getting into his car, they emptied a gun in his backside. He was killed. He was 26. It was mistaken identity.

“I was out and about, and on my way to his house to eat dinner, when my husband recognized the car and said that was him at the store. I said, ‘That’s not him.’ We drove over, and a man walked up to our truck and said, ‘Mam, the store is closed, a man just got killed.’ I said, ‘Did he have dreads?’ He said, ‘Yes.’ I said, ‘Is he in that car?’ He said, ‘The car is still running.’ I just fell out of the car on my knees. It was my son.

“It’s been hard because I left my husband, I left my baby boy, I left my home, I left everything, and I moved here. After a year, my husband rejoined me. I had to get away from there, or I probably would have done something bad. I’ve come through this only through the grace of God. It’s hard. I have a hole in my heart that will never be filled.”