JACKSONVILLE, Fla. — Jacksonville families who’ve lost a loved one to violent crimes are heading to Tallahassee today for the Survivors Speak Florida rally, calling on lawmakers to tackle the root causes of crime in the state.
A dozen members of Jacksonville’s Crime Survivors for Safety and Justice chapter met in the early morning at the Families of Slain Children offices on North Myrtle Avenue, before boarding a charter bus to the state capitol where they are joining hundreds of other families from across Florida who’s lives have all been changed forever by violent crime.
I spoke to one mother, Beverly McClain, who founded the Families of Slain Children group after losing her 28-year-old son Andre.
Nearly 20 years after her tragic loss, it’s still hard for her to talk about that time in her life.
“I don’t know what happened,” she said. “All I know is that Homicide came in and told me they found my son’s body at the Ribault River. Devasted was I - it ain’t easy to go back when you done came so far, you know. I think him daily. There’s not a moment I wake up, [that] he’s not on my mind, but I’m grateful that I had 28 years with him.
McClain founded FOSC nearly 19 years ago after she found other mom’s suffering the same grief she was.
Outside their office are several 6-ft. tall wooden panels, adorned with 3-ft. crosses and listed on them are the names of children killed by violence in Jacksonville.
Stories like hers are mirrored in every member of the CSSJ community, including first-time rally-goer Alfreda Telfair, who’s cousin Cory was gunned down outside his home at the Highland Apartments when he was only16 years old.
Telfair tells his story while fighting back tears, ”he was on the phone with his mom, letting her know he had got back from Burger King on Dunn Avenue. All she heard was shots ringing out and she ran out, but he had done fell backwards - she didn’t see him.
Telfair says Cory was a good student and had a lot of potential to be anything he wanted to be in life.
Now all she can do is honor his memory by going to lawmakers and asking for them to pass policies that help end violence in the state.
“Today is my birthday and I took the day off,” Telfair says. “This here was more important to me than celebrating my birthday.”
The Survivors Speak Florida rally calls on politicians to address three legislative items this year.
- Right-size penalties for low-level probation violations to improve safety
- Increase access to sealing low-level misdemeanor records – to get people back to work
- Fund expanding trauma recovery services in Jacksonville to serve crime victims
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