JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The Fourth of July is a time for celebration, fun and fireworks for most people, but for one mother, it’s one more holiday spent without her baby boy.
Rhonda Phillips talked about how losing her son to gun violence has affected her life.
“It stings every single day,” Phillips said. “It’s the first thing when I wake up and probably the last thing I think of before I go to bed. Child loss is just something you don’t even wish upon your worst enemy.”
Leon Bennett, 23, was shot and killed in 2018 just a few days before the Fourth of July.
Police said a large fight broke out on 7th Avenue North in Jacksonville Beach.
It changed Phillips’ views on attending large gatherings.
“I don’t even like to go out to gatherings, and I think most of my family all feel the same way,” Phillips said. “To be in such a large crowd, you never know what could happen especially these days because gun violence is a common thing.”
Over the past three years, 80 total mass shootings happened nationwide between July 1-7, according to the Gun Violence Archive.
While Jacksonville has seen a drastic decrease in murders and homicides compared to last year, there’s a heightened risk of gun violence around the holiday.
News4JAX Crime and Safety Analyst Tom Hackney explained why that is.
“There’s large amounts of people together, it’s hot, and there’s alcohol involved,” Hackney said. “You start mixing these factors in and people are off work.”
The U.S. Surgeon General declared gun violence as a public health crisis for the first time.
In the advisory, Dr. Vivek Murthy cites a national survey that said, “Nearly 6 in 10 U.S. adults say that they worry ‘sometimes, almost every day, or every day,’ about a loved one being a victim of firearm violence.”
Hackney suggested staying extra vigilant of your surroundings if you worry about gun violence.
“If the hair on the back of your neck stands up and this doesn’t feel right, look for a way out,” Hackney said. “If you see something happening, if you see people with guns, call the police.”
Hackney added that early intervention could be the difference between someone living and dying.
Bennett didn’t get to live past 23 years old. His mother hopes that no other parent goes through the pain she has.
“Go out to have a good time, not to hurt somebody or shoot somebody,” Phillips said.