Durham Reporter

Sherry Williams knows the pain of losing a child to street violence.

Fifteen years ago, her first-born son, JaQuienton Sellars, was shot to death. Afterward, Williams founded a Facebook group called Mothers of Murdered Kids to help parents who were dealing with a similar loss. 

Williams was interviewed recently about the rising homicide rate in Durham. Her youngest son, Jabari, was killed last week. Both of her sons had their lives cut short at the age of 21. 

"He was my baby," Williams told WTVD. "Jabari was the one that always looked out for Mama. We mothers go through nine months, deliver that child and give birth to that child. I've had him for 21 years and someone just takes his life?"

Memories are all the family has now. 

"The day before [he was killed], he came in the room saying, 'Ma! Ma!'" Williams said. "I said, 'What, Jabari?' He said, ‘Girl, I love you.'"

The family remembers the good times to keep the grief at bay, if only for a few seconds at a time.

"A couple weeks ago – that was pretty big," Jabari’s brother Deon Gagum said. “I got to take my brother and his girlfriend and Mom came out. It was their first time voting."

It has reached the point that Williams does not want to keep up with the news.

"Sometimes, I'm afraid to turn the TV on because it's someone's child has been murdered," she said. "I know what they're going to go through, and here I am going through this a second time."

Now, the family hopes that the Durham City Council can find a solution to stop the city from spinning into the abyss of record slayings.

"I know she cares," Gagum said. "I think City Council needs to pay attention and give her what she needs to keep this city safe."

Violence in Durham is an issue that Mayor Elaine O’Neal spoke about during her campaign, but it is a challenge that current approaches have not solved.