JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – NOTE: A local organization called “Silent Women Speaking” has brought mothers together who have lost a child to gun violence. Several moms from the organization sat down with News4JAX to talk about how their lives will never be the same.
Natasha Green remembers the day she lost her 17-year-old son, Tedrick Parrish.
“I remember hearing the news say that three were shot -- one was dead,” Green said. “My motherly instincts, I knew it was my baby.”
Green said she woke up to hundreds of notifications from people trying to reach her to tell her that her son, a student at Ribault High School, was dead. None were from law enforcement.
Three men were later charged with murder in the deadly shooting.
“They shot my baby in his head,” Green said. “Why couldn’t he get a warning shot? And say, ‘You know what, OK, we’ll sit down.’”
Paige Hall has a similar story to Green.
Her son, Trenton Fort, was shot in the chest at a stop sign in the Spring Lake Estates neighborhood. After the 16-year-old was shot, he was dropped off in front of his school, West Nassau High, before he was taken to the hospital.
“It was right after school,” Hall said. “So the football team was there and all the kids were there. And even my oldest son was there. So they all saw him, and he was gone.”
Trenton’s coach called Hall to let her know that the teen had been shot and was taken to UF Health.
When Hall arrived at the hospital, she waited for the doctors to give her an update on Trenton, but no one ever came.
“Well, because I was a white woman and my son was biracial,” Hall said. “But he was, you know, pretty dark. They didn’t think I was his mom, so they wouldn’t come talk to me.”
Eventually, she was told by law enforcement that her son did not make it.
A teenager was later sentenced to 15 years in prison after pleading guilty to third-degree murder in Trenton’s death.
According to News4JAX records, homicide and murder rates have varied over the last few years.
The highest rates were in 2020, during the pandemic. That year, the city saw 175 homicides and 140 murders.
So far this year, there has been a 27% decrease in the number of people shot compared to last year.
Janice Fields said since losing her son, Rashaud Fields, their family has been distant and barely communicates.
Rashaud, 18, was killed after a party, just hours after graduating from Raines High School.
Rashaud was set to attend Keiser University in Fort Lauderdale on a full-ride football scholarship.
Janice Fields said the person hosting the graduation party told her Rashaud had been shot.
“I knew in my heart as a mother, that he was dead,” Fields said.
Rashaud was shot in the back -- four times.
“For you to shoot my baby in his back four times,” Fields said. “Nobody can tell me that it wasn’t meant for him.”
No arrests have been made in his murder.
Even though Rashaud did not get a chance to play for Keiser University, the team honored him by retiring his jersey number -- 53 -- for four years and keeping his name on the dorm he was supposed to stay in for a year.
Since losing Rashaud, the Fields family has received a lot of support from the community, and Janice has found her own community, through Silent Women Speaking.
The group’s founder Haraka “Nikki” Carswell said she started the organization three years ago because she saw families in the city suffering.
“I realized it was needed to bring that sisterhood together for these mothers because they are hurting mothers,” Carswell said. “They need an outlet to be able to come and share, be able to cry and smile, be able to push through different things that they go through in life, and also help their other kids.”
Carswell started by hosting a Mother’s Day Brunch and has grown the organization from 75 moms to now over 200 moms -- each with their own story of grief.
Melissa Jackson was one of the first moms to join the organization.
Her son, 18-year-old Corbin Johnson, was reported missing in 2018 after a job interview. A year later his remains were found in a wooded area in Northwest Jacksonville. Foul play was suspected.
Last year, Corbin’s murder became the center of a nationwide TikTok trend.
Jackson said she joined the organization because she felt like she could be herself among the other moms.
“She was consistent,” Jackson said of Carswell. “She was loving. She was caring. She allowed me to be me. And I had no choice but to say, ‘You know what? I want to be a part of what she has.’ Because if you have that much love for someone, and it hasn’t affected you? She’s never met Corbin, but I feel like she has met Corbin.”
Other moms, like Shawnda McNish, say they appreciate having someone there when they are having a tough day.
McNish’s daughter, 16-year-old Jakayla Hicks, was found in a wrecked Dodge Charger in a wooded area in Ware County, Georgia. Officers performed CPR on her, but she died from her injuries. Her mother said she had been shot in the head.
Hicks’ father has been charged with murder in the case.
“It’s hard,” McNish said. “And Miss Nikki is very patient. Sometimes, she knows I’m having a bad day and that text comes. She knows, and when I talk to her, it’s like, ‘OK.’ I calm down. I feel better.”
Carswell also connected these moms to mental health therapist Desiree Jones with Step-by-Step Behavioral Health.
Jones said it’s important for families who have lost a child to seek mental health therapy because they went through something traumatic.
“Mental health is really important. They need to understand what’s happening. They need to deal with the emotions. Their family has to deal with the emotions,” Jones said. “And if they’re not dealt with, it can just lead to so many different things, so many different emotions. They could be dealing with guilt. They can be dealing with just unanswered questions. They may not have anybody to talk to because nobody in their family may understand what they’re going through. And so therapy just allows you that neutral person.”
Janice Fields -- who is still looking for answers in her son’s murder -- is asking for people in the community to speak up.
“It takes more than just JSO. We got to come together as a community and in unity, stop this violence,” Fields said. “And if you know something, say something. Because it could be your child.”