Chicago woman hosts Mother’s Day event for those who have lost loved ones to gun violence

Brónagh Tumulty
·2 min read
4

CHICAGO — Women around the country celebrated Mother’s Day on Sunday but for some, it is a holiday they dread.

For those who have lost their children, Mother’s Day can be one of the hardest days of the year, but one woman on the South Side has been trying to ease that suffering by supporting others who share similar pain.

For the fourth year in a row, Octavia Mitchell gathered a group to mark the holiday, but many of them, including Mitchell, have lost children to gun violence.

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“It took me 10 years after losing my son to celebrate Mother’s Day,” Mitchell said.

Mitchell’s son, 18-year-old Izael Jackson, was fatally shot in the spring of 2010, and just last year, she lost her nephew, 21-year-old Avante Holmes, after he was gunned down on Chicago’s South Side.

Through her grief, Mitchell founded the “Heal Your Heart Foundation.”

“Me helping others is part of my healing. Like I stated, I don’t have any downtime for me, because I’m trying to help someone else,” Mitchell said.

Sunday’s event also offered those who’ve lost a sibling a space to grieve.

“It’s hard for them to grieve. If it’s hard for us to grieve, you know that it’s hard for them to grieve. They’re only children,” Mitchell said.

Among those who attended the event was Krista Loston, who knows the pain of losing a son all too well.

“My son was gunned down at the age of 22. So I’ve lost my son, here in Chicago, where we were born and raised,” Loston said.

According to Loston, her son Jamarion dreamed of becoming a professional baseball player.

“He went to college, he graduated high school. A really good kid,” Loston said.

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Loston said something has to change so that no more mothers have to face the holiday without their children.

“We have to stand together to get something done for our city,” Loston said.

While the latest crime data from the Chicago Police Department indicates that shootings in the city are down by 7% compared to this time in 2023, there have still been 625 shooting incidents so far this year, in Chicago.

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