A drive-by shooting in June killed 21-year-old Carl Austin. Today, his mother writes in about the burden of his loss:
These young men taking the life of other young men fail to realize that when they shoot and kill those bullets have a domino effect on the family, when he shot Carl he shot my whole family and all the weight fell on me(mother). I miss my son so much and it hurts to the point that its unbearable. I pray that someone has the courage to tell who done this. Its NO SECRET WHO IS RESPONSIBLE for this murder. Lord touch the hearts of these young men to give a statement, let them not rest until they release their statements “IN JESUS NAME!!” AMEN. I LOVE YOU SON and my life will never be the same without you. To the person who we all know killed my child may you not find rest, peace, sanity, love, prosperity ,joy or happiness UNTIL YOU TURN YOURSELF IN
Regarding the video on the death of Ashley Hardmon, “clchuck” writes:
“Watching these videos and seeing two amazingly strong individuals that I know go through this is extremely overwhelming. My prayers go out to the Hardmon family. I also pray that those who were fortunate to watch these videos and read the article understood the message that was being portrayed by this commentary as a whole. I’ve read numerous comments pertaining to this article and overall we need to stop waiting on the politicians and the media to remind us that we are losing our Communities, families and friends to senseless violence. It’s time for us as a community within itself to start being proactive collaboratively to make the necessary preventative steps to bring these tragedies to a halt. Be strong Family because she is still with you.”
“I have known this young man since he was in elementary school. I always encouraged him to do his best in school and he in turn always gave me a winning smile along with a promise to do just that. He was a polite, respectful guy. This is a tragedy. My heart goes out to his family (especially his parents).”
- Kila Bell-Bey, writing about 19-year-old Alexander Mayo, of Oak Park, who was shot and killed Thursday afternoon in Lawndale
Commenter Jim Joyce writes:
“I don’t know what the family issues were, but I knew Kenny Johnson. In that respect Kenny was intelligent, upbeat and was always there to pitch in to make our workplace run better. This is a terrible loss.”
Margaret Washington writes:
“Cornelius German was a 15 year old teenager with a big heart, and was always telling jokes that would leave everyone laughing. I know that our children make mistakes and even decisions that my cause them to become apart of society - lifestyle, and just living in the moment. It doesn’t matter what color or race a child is when their life is taken. At the end of the day or night, the child who lost his or her life is still someone’s child. Remember we as adults are responsible for all children. We must fight to save our kids from the Gangs, drugs, and crime. Cornelius loved his mom and dad, knowing that he made his last request to his friend, was “call my mama”. This time his parent couldn’t save their son.
To the entire German family my prayers are with your family.”
