Cassandra Walker and Jill Henderson

Recorded January 8, 2023 39:54 minutes
0:00 / 0:00
Id: mby022357

Description

Cassandra Walker [no age given] speaks with her friend, Jill Henderson (57), about her late son Terence, how she remembers him, and how his death has impacted their family.

Subject Log / Time Code

C reflects on how she feels approaching the eighth anniversary of her son Terence's passing. She describes her son, shares memories of him, and imagines the future he could have had.
C recalls her favorite memory of Terence and explains how much photos of him mean to her.
C recounts the day her son was shot by a police officer. C and J discuss the lack of justice and accountability for his murder.
C reflects on the hardest part of losing her son and shares what she most misses about him.
C speaks about how Terence would want to be remembered and reflects on how others remember him.
C reflects on her grieving process and how her feelings about sharing her story have evolved over the years. C gives her advice to other mothers in a similar situation.
C describes the challenges Terence overcame in his life and shares what about him makes her smile.
C reflects on what Terence's life could have looked like today.
C shares what she would like people to know about Terence and describes what his family does to remember him.
C speaks about how she has changed since losing Terence and shares how she feels hearing of other young men being shot.

Participants

  • Cassandra Walker
  • Jill Henderson

Initiatives

Subjects


Transcript

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[00:05] JILL HENDERSON: Hi.

[00:06] CASSANDRA WALKER: My name is Jill Henderson, and I am 57 years old. Today is January 8, 2023, and I am interviewing Cassandra Walker. She's a good friend of mine, and I think that's it. And I'm located in Austin, Texas, and the recording is, I guess, based out of El Paso.

[00:27] JILL HENDERSON: Okay, my name is Cassandra Walker. I'm. The day is January 8, and we're doing this recording in Austin, Texas, and I'm being interviewed by Jill Henderson, a good friend of mine. Thank you.

[00:45] CASSANDRA WALKER: All right, well, thank you, Cassandra, for agreeing to this. I know you don't often like to do these things, so I am honored that you agreed to do this, because I think your family will just be so amazed at what you have to share, because I know you're kind of a quiet soul. So, anyway. Okay, my first question is, as January 17 approaches, how are you feeling?

[01:22] JILL HENDERSON: I was thinking about that this morning, because as eight, in nine more days, it'll be eight years of my son passing January 17 of 2015. And I'm thinking about him as far as he would right now. He would be 29 years old. And I look at his friends and how they're moving with their lives. Them have children now. And I wonder, what would he have. What would have transpired in his life over these last eight years? And that's what has caught my attention as far as thinking about that. As far as him? My son, Terrence Walker Junior. Yes, ma'am.

[02:12] CASSANDRA WALKER: Okay, well, tell us something about. Or just tell us about.

[02:18] JILL HENDERSON: Okay. Terrence Walker Junior was born August 5. I mean, October 15, 1993. He's my second. I have a daughter. And he was a very happy person. He was. People around his friends enjoyed his. He was the one that's like, say, the life of the party, whatever. And that was. That was his nature. People just. He just drew. People drew to him because of his. Of his personality, and he loved playing football. And I was thinking about this the other day. Cause right now, they have the college playoffs now. And he always said, mom, he liked to play football. And he said, mom, offense wins games, defense wins championships. And that's why he always wanted to play defense. And I was looking at all these games. Now, oddly enough, the defense are the ones that really help win the football games. So I think about the quotes he would say, and I think about he would have been coming home the day. The weekend of his passing. He was planning to come home that weekend. He was moving back here to Austin, and he was planning to come back and pay for a little minor league football team here in the Austin area, and I think about that. As far as. Would he be able to have pursued his dream of playing in the. Not that he was going to go to the NFL, nothing like that, but just to pursue his costume of playing football. Yes, sir.

[04:05] CASSANDRA WALKER: Thank you for sharing one thing.

[04:08] JILL HENDERSON: I think one other thing also. He wasn't a studio's part. He didn't like school. I had to. That was a push. He did go. He went to a school in Muskogee, Oklahoma. That's where he was killed. Oh, he did go to school there, but he didn't. He wasn't as far as being studious. That was the other side. He didn't like that. But as far as keeping him involved in this being studious, he had to play football. So that's what kept him active in that. So that's okay. Yes, ma'am.

[04:41] CASSANDRA WALKER: So what's your first memory of Terrence, other than being born? Of course.

[04:48] JILL HENDERSON: The first memory. Oh, my goodness, Jill, that's a good. I mean, a first memory. Well, besides being born, it's the first one. It's just a. I guess when we moved here to the Austin area, he. When we. When I had. When we had to move, when I moved to the Austin area, he really didn't. He really wasn't excited about moving. He wanted to stay in Houston, where we were living at the time. But the memory of he had to, once he got here, and the memory I remember is he was the church we joined. He was able to connect with some of the young people there at the church, which also friends that he went to school, that he was able to go to school with. So once he was able to, as young people, you know, they want to meet friends, and then they can be connected in the community or they feel. Most kids, I think, want to feel their worth by having friends. So once he was able to get friends, he was able to thrive here in the Austin area. So the memory I have is just once he was able to connect with friends and the young men that would come up to the house to see the. His expression on how he was able to say, oh, I have friends now. So that's. That's the memory I have of that when he accepted moving here, instead of, because he had friends there in Houston. But once he got here and was able to meet someone and connect with somebody, that I could see the expression on his face, how he was able to accept the move when we came here. So that's. That's the only memory I have of that.

[06:23] CASSANDRA WALKER: Yeah.

[06:24] JILL HENDERSON: Mm hmm.

[06:26] CASSANDRA WALKER: Do you have a best memory of Terrence?

[06:31] JILL HENDERSON: My best memory. Him and I both are not. We're not picture takers. And even though he put, well, I guess it's me not being a picture taker, really. But the December before he passed away, my daughter made us take a picture, all three of us take a picture together. And that, oddly enough, is the only picture I really have of all of us together, those three. The Christmas before he passed away, I have a picture of all of us together. All of this, what I use on his. On his obituary, the picture of him, because he never. We never really took pictures together, which is. And now that's something that I redo regret now that I don't have many pictures. My sister has pictures of him, and I tell her, give me those pictures. I mean, she said, you can have me tell you, woman, she like, I be, like, pulling teeth. I want those pictures because I don't have any. So for Christmas, she gave me a blanket that had some of his pictures on it because she said, you always want a picture. You always say, you cold. So I have now have a blank with all his pictures on it. So she. That was my gift. So that's what my best memory of him is when he. We took a picture together. And I have that picture and all the pictures of him, but I wish I had taken more. But I keep. I keep him in my mind, in my memory, because I never. When he passed away, I didn't ever want to see the video of his passing because I didn't want to have that picture in my mind of the way he was killed. I didn't want to have that picture in my mind. But the picture I have is a picture I have of all of him in my life and of his. Of him. It's a. It's a picture of him. And that's what I want to always remember him, as in my mind. So that's that.

[08:35] CASSANDRA WALKER: Well, since you kind of touched on him being murdered, are you comfortable talking about how he was murdered?

[08:43] JILL HENDERSON: Yes, I am. He was shot by a police officer in Muskogee. There was a misunderstanding between him and a young lady he was dating. And I think the way it happened, it got out of control as far as he was leaving Moscow, coming back to Texas, and she didn't want him to leave. And she made a statement that he was going to harm her, and he didn't. Because the young man who, at the time when he was killed, a friend of his taking his car to the shop to get fixed, and he said, drop me off at the church because I want to talk to the young. I forgot her name now. And he said, I just want to talk to her. He said, well, I'm just going to go down here to Otto, so, and I'll be right back. And, Terrence, I'll leave you here, and you come back. And when he came back, he said, Miss Walker, it wasn't a matter of 15 minutes. Somehow or another, she, uh, she told the minister at the church that he was going to harm her in some way. And they called the police. And the policeman came to the church, and he searched Terrence or whatever, and he was telling her he was going to just talk to the young lady. And I guess as far as young men nowadays, they want to break away and run. And the policeman shot him. I think the policeman shot him because Terrence was a runner and he could run faster than this heavy set police officer. And he shot him in the back. It was no reason. He didn't have any kind of weapons on him or anything. But I'm not. I can't think of in his mind why he would run. I don't know. I have no idea. But that's what. What happened? And he was shot by a police officer. And at the time, the people who were there saying the minister was there, they wanted to administer aid, but the police people wouldn't let them administer aid to him. So I don't know if he could have survived from that. But he said, let's. Let me just help the young man. He said, no, don't even. Don't even. Don't even touch. So that's what the memory. I don't want to remember because a lot of people there, and they took videos of it, and I just. And they wonder. I said, no, I don't want to. I don't want to see it. And. But that's what he was shot by a police officer. And I probably could have pursued the act of going for justice, but being from another state, I tried to find a lawyer that would take the case, but I never could find one. And for me, going back and forth, Muskogee, I just couldn't afford to do that. So I just put in the Lord's hand and say, well, lord, I mean, I know you said, vengeance is mine, so I'm just gonna leave in his hands and let him deal with that. The officer who. Because he said it wasn't. They said it was, it wasn't necessary for him to do. It was not necessary for him to do what? To shoot him. It was not necessary at all. Terrence was not a threat to him at all, but that's just the way it happened.

[11:59] CASSANDRA WALKER: So as far as you know, has the officer, was he reprimanded in any way?

[12:07] JILL HENDERSON: Brother? No. No, my brother. My ex. Well, my ex brother in law now they contact the police department, but he could. He's an attorney, and he couldn't find it. He said no because they weren't going to do anything about it. They just. It's sad because nothing was ever done to him. And I probably could pursue it now, but I'm just. My kids. My ex husband is. He still is trying to figure out a way how he can pursue it. But after eight years, I don't know if you can do anything about it this late date. There's anything. But it's still open because the NAACP looked into it from Muskogee, and they said it's considered a homicide. If I ever wanted to pursue it, I could, because it wasn't like it was. It was. It was one of the justified homicides, considered a homicide, and because he was shot in the back. And they said if I ever wanted to pursue it, then I could. But as of yet, I have. I have not known, and I know I wouldn't even know how to even find if the police officer is even still there anymore after eight years, because he had other run ins with other people. So I don't know if he's even there anymore. No.

[13:23] CASSANDRA WALKER: So what would you consider the hardest thing about losing Terrence?

[13:29] JILL HENDERSON: Not being here. Not for him. Not being here. Like I said, like I said, I see his friends and they move their lives, and the only thing I can say I'm looking at right now, my family says my grandson looks just like him. I said, like he's reading a quantum. And my daughter did give him his. His middle name as Terrence also. And because he loved children, I know he would love Naveah That's my grandson, he would. They would be tight buddies, because, odd enough, some of his friends had kids in school, and he would babysit them because he loved. He loved children. And I. That's the hardest thing about him, seeing how he would have developed into the. Into what? What would he be doing right now? That's what I. Because at the time he passed away, he'd always wanted his hair to grow, and he had had dreads in his hair. And the young lady who did his dreads came to his funeral. She told how much he. He loved to have his hair done by her. And she came and did it for me when. When he passed away. And I was wondering if he still have. Would he still have the dreads now? Because a lot of kids have changed their hairstyle, I wonder, would he still have these long dreads like he'd always wanted and. But that's what I would. I would say that's the hardest thing that I would want to see. What would he be nowadays? What kind of person. What. What would he be doing? It's just. What would he be doing now? That's what I would like to know. So, yeah.

[15:10] CASSANDRA WALKER: What do you miss most about Terrence?

[15:13] JILL HENDERSON: Just him, because, I mean, it's bad to say, because even when he was, as he got older, and sometimes he would say, mama, can I lay in the bed with you? He would come and lay in. That's what somebody said. Now, being my grandson reminds me of him because he comes and lays with me also. They said, that's just Terrence all over again. Because even his. When he was. He got his. In his. He was in his 7018. He would come and lay in the bed. We just cannot come and lay in the bed with you. I said, yeah, Terrence, you grown. I mean, I want to lay in the bay with you. So, I mean, I miss. I miss that. I really do. And he was just. He was just something special. I mean, all children are special. I mean, they are. But he was just. He was just. He was a big baby in a way, even though with his friends, he tried to be that macho person, but with me, he was like, he was just my baby. That's why he was just my baby. Yes. So that's why I miss just having him around. That's what I duly miss. And I think about it every day of how I miss him and what would he. What would he be like? I do okay. Yes.

[16:31] CASSANDRA WALKER: So how do you think he would want to be remembered?

[16:40] JILL HENDERSON: I think he'd want to be remembered as, he's a person that had his friends back. Whatever they needed, he was going to be there for them. And I think that's what a lot of them, when he passed away, a lot of them came by the house, and they just. They just. He was just. He was just special. I mean, I'm gonna say, like I said, all kids are special. But he had his back of his friends, because even in Muscogee, there was a young lady that went to school in Muskogee, and she also knew us from Austin area, all of them. When I moved him to Muskogee, I met her there. She used to go to school with Terrence. Oh, well, she was a year old. She went to school. My daughter, she was a year older than him. But when he passed away, she said, miss Walker, Terrence was something special. She said. She said, I don't. I don't know what it was about him, but he was just different from other. From other, other young men. And I said, what do you mean? He says, I don't know. It just. It was just something different about him is that he was. But he was. He was very loyal to his friends. He was. Our family loved him, and they. And I think, right. Not that he would. He's the type of child that he would not be forgotten. I mean, even nowadays, we still talk about him now, even after eight years, we still talk, like, in the present tense. You know, Terrence would be doing something like that. We would do. We just be talking, like, when things come up, we say, oh, Terrence would think it's. Terrence would say this, he would do this. And I think it's a memory. Just the type of person he was is that he was that everybody just clinged to him, cling to him, and they wanted to be around him. And that's what I think he'd want to be remembered by. Is that the type of person he was? Is that he was a lovable person. He was easy to love, and he was. He was just special. He really was. And I. And I do miss. I do miss him, and that's all. Okay, go ahead.

[18:54] CASSANDRA WALKER: Well, it's. Right now it's very easy and comfortable for you to talk about Terrence. Was it that way from the beginning when he first passed, or was it too painful to really talk about him in memories?

[19:21] JILL HENDERSON: Well, at the time when he passed, at the time when he passed away, I was able to talk about my faith because I needed my faith to get me through the tragedy, because a news reporter, I don't know how they found out about it, but it was a time when a lot of minority black young men were being killed by police officers. And I had a young man from one of the tv stations came here to interview me about it and what my thoughts about it. Was I upset about? Well, yeah, I was upset about. Yeah, I was. Yeah, I. But he interviewed me, and it wasn't, would I mind talking about Terrence and everything. I did do that. And. And he asked him, how do you. How do you feel about your police? I said, I'm upset about it, and I can't. But I have to have, I have to keep my faith to get me through this because it was, it was hard because you never want to be a person lose. You don't want to ever go before your child goes. You don't ever want that to have to happen because you have a vision of what this child is going to be like when they grow up. They have to have a future. You never think you'd be the one to be here after they're gone. But it had to be my faith to get me through this and to talk about it. I really didn't talk, I really didn't talk much about it unless somebody asked me about it. But I kept a lot and I look back now, I kept a lot of things inward and I just, I just kept it in and I never, I didn't grieve out really like I should have to me, I didn't grieve outwardly like I should. I'm not a person really cry a lot, but I kept alive. And I think that's really affected my health in a way, is that I think there, there is a time for that. You do have to grieve because it's, I think it's be healthy to get. To show your. To get it out of you because you don't want to ever keep it, keep that, keep that in. So I went through, agree, a grieving course over a year to help me work through that, which I thought which was good because, and it allowed me to also use you, allow me to talk about it. And then after a year, our pastor asked us to ask me to talk about it. And the more I've been around, Jill, I've talked, I've talked about it. I've gotten comfortable, comfortable with it. But at first I did, I didn't, I didn't want to talk about it. But as the years have gone on and someone mentioned that sometimes if you talk about it, it could help because one day I talked about it at church and the younger came and she told me, she said, thank you so much for sharing. Because things, when I'm saying something, I don't know what I'm saying because, like right now I know what I'm saying. I may say something I don't realize I'm saying it. And the young lady said, she said, thank you so much for sharing your story because your story really helped me. And I've come to maybe kind of realize maybe this, even though eight years later something I say may help someone, someone else. And hopefully that is the purpose of. Because God has a purpose for us to. There's a purpose for us in this life, and maybe that's my purpose, to help someone else who maybe they've lost a son. And how to work through that, as far as being a voice of how to. How to work through that. And it is a grieving process, and you never forget that person. You never will it always be on your mind. But as time has gone on, been able to talk about it more than I was at the beginning? Yes. Okay.

[23:16] CASSANDRA WALKER: What would you tell a new mother going through this journey that we are both going through?

[23:27] JILL HENDERSON: I would tell her, to me, just take one day at a time. It's not gonna. There are times when you might even think about it. Sometimes one thing may trigger you a thought or memory, and you may start bawling or crying or. I mean, it just. Just the triggers. And my whole thing is that it's depending on your faith, really. To me, your faith can get you through this, if you have faith, to know that, if you look at the positive. Okay. I've had, like, I had to think about it like, this way. I had to pray and said, thank you, lord, for the 21 years that I had him here, because I know life is not promised. Our life is not promised to us, but thank you for the time that I did have him here. And also to just. It's a journey. It's not something that you're going to be over. You're just not going to be over it. And it also depends on the type of losing. Losing a son the way I did, it was just. Was like, you mean both are just. They both could have been aborted. I mean, what. What our sons went through, it could. It could have been easily been avoided. I mean, it's just the way of the world is the people. The people. We have to pray that there's compassion and someone who's. I don't. I don't. I don't know how to. I don't honestly don't have to dress that question. Honestly, I don't really. How do I say? The new mother? It's just. It's just a journey you have to. It's just a journey you have to go through. And it's not. It's sad to say there's a. There is a group of ladies that have to go through this journey, and hopefully you have to lean on someone else to help you get through it. Know that you're not the only one. There's others out there. They're going through the same journey. And we're all in this journey together, members of this. I don't say club, but it's not members of this. Of this. But to know there. I would say that if I. If I would just be there just to. Just to. Just to talk, just to listen. You know, you want to, just like we're doing now, you'll tell your story about your son to keep the memory going. Just. What can I do to help you get through this? What do you. What. What can I do? Because everyone has a. Their own need of what they need to get through it. And how. How can they get through it? But my main thing is, is just to know that I'm. I'll be here. If someone asked me that, I'm here to help you in the way that I can. Whatever you need. But to know, you have to rely on prayerfully. You have a strong enough faith to get you through this because you have to. Because at times, you might think, look, you might be mad at God about it, but after a while, we had to come back to realize that he's only helped us get through this. That's what I could say.

[26:40] CASSANDRA WALKER: Good advice. Okay, so, tell us about one of the biggest obstacles Terrence overcame in his life.

[26:57] JILL HENDERSON: According to school. That was obstacle, because he hated school. He really did. Oh, lord, if he could sleep through that. And I look back at it now, is that. I look back at it now that he. He went to Bacone College in Muskogee, Oklahoma, and he only went there to play football. But I look back now, and I think that if he had did more with his. He was. He. I think he could have been more of a trades person instead of a educational person. If he could. If he could. The obstacle of getting through, as they say, he made it through high school, he did make it through. I said, thank you, Lord. That was. It wasn't an obstacle, but he. But he just didn't like it. He just. He just didn't. But he made it through that. And also, another obstacle. He broke his. He broke his arm when he played football, and he. That was obstacle, him having to go through therapy to get through that, but he made it through that. So that was a challenge for him because he couldn't play when he broke his arm, but other than that, he had to have surgery on that, but he made it through. But that's all obstacle school and health wise, that was it. And getting also, like I said here, this obstacle of coming here to all because he didn't like. Like I said, he didn't like to move here. But he met some good friends, and I see them nowadays, and I. Yeah, that's it. That's all.

[28:37] CASSANDRA WALKER: So what about Terrence makes you smile?

[28:44] JILL HENDERSON: Just a thought of him. I mean, I really love. I mean, I still do. I just. I just. I just love my baby. I mean, he was. He was. He was a big baby. That's just knowing who he was. And I miss him. And just think about him, that it brings a smile when I do think about, like, when I see my grandson, how active he is. And I said, my goodness, you be just like Terrence right now. You are like him. And that brings a smile on my face when I see that. But that's all I can think of is just how he was with his friends and how the friends come by the house, and I would be smiling. They all go out. It was a joyful time, I guess. I guess when they were teenagers or whatever, just to see their friends and how. And he met some. He met some good friends here at our church here, and they were very active, and they were very supportive in how. And they knew. I was a single mother here when my husband was separated at the time, and the dads took him under their wings to wherever their sons went, Terrence went with them. So that's what, that brings a smile on my face. And just to think about him, that brings a smile to my face.

[30:13] CASSANDRA WALKER: What were some of his hopes and dreams for the future? I know you mentioned he wanted to play semi pro football, but what are the hope dreams that he had?

[30:30] JILL HENDERSON: Well, those are some of the things. That's why I think I would cause. Really? Cause at 21, when he passed away, he didn't really have any thoughts. And that's why I was thinking about what would have been his hopes and dreams. What would he have wanted besides football, what would he have wanted to do? Because he did. He wasn't. He didn't work with his hands, anything. But I'm just wondering what. What would he do? That's what. That's what not worries me, but that's what. What I think about the most about him when I think about his coming on. I was thinking in October of this year, he'd be 30 years old. What would you have been doing at 30 years old? What kind of career would you have wanted to pursue besides football? Because even though he knew he wasn't going to go professional, he didn't want to play. Well, this was the team here was like a minor league. Like a. It's like a minor league football team. It's one here at the. Here in Austin area. And I guess he might have. He might just wanted to have done that. But it's something we never really discussed what he wanted to do. He was a person. That's like living the moment. He was the one that pursued, thought that far in advance. No, he was just think right here in the moment. This is what I'm doing right now, mom. This is it. Okay, that's fine. We just go with that. Take one day at a time. So.

[32:04] CASSANDRA WALKER: That'S a good.

[32:05] JILL HENDERSON: I don't know.

[32:06] CASSANDRA WALKER: Many people don't live in the present. You know what I mean? They're so busy.

[32:10] JILL HENDERSON: The future, he know, he. That's what he honestly never did. I think it's what tried to figure him, because he lived. He lived in. In the moment, not in not thinking about what. What I'm gonna do next. So let me just live right now.

[32:25] CASSANDRA WALKER: That's a word for me.

[32:27] JILL HENDERSON: Okay.

[32:30] CASSANDRA WALKER: Is there anything about him that you think no one else really knows or that you want people to know?

[32:45] JILL HENDERSON: No, it's just. No, not really. Just. He was a wonderful young man, and that his life was taken too soon and that he was a gift. I must say he was. He was a gift. But nothing special. I want anybody to know. No.

[33:16] CASSANDRA WALKER: Are there certain things that you and your family like to do to honor him or to celebrate his life?

[33:26] JILL HENDERSON: Well, Norma, we. I guess we haven't done it recently, but we. On his birthday, we had a balloon release for his birthday, which is in October, and on the 17th, we don't normally do anything on. We just remember his passing. And the only thing that I can remember is that he passed on the 17th. And because I had to move him from Oklahoma here to Texas, and to have his service as soon as I could, his wake was on my birthday. So every. When my birthday is coming up, January 30. So that day, it's like. It's the day I was born and the day that I have laid. My son wasn't to rest, because he rest on the 31st, but that's the day I had his wake. So that's the day that we share together. As far as me remembering him, as far as somebody say happy birthday, it's not really. It's. I can't say it's a happy birthday, because also I think about him, because this day is the day I etched in stone. It's the day that I had my son's wake, and. But I do remember on the day of wake, it was people that came that gave wonderful remarks about how they loved him, what type of person he was, how they were going to miss him. And so that's also a joy also, even though it was a sad occasion, the remarks the young people came and gave brings me joy, even though. So I can have. So to celebrate my birthday, to celebrate him, also the remembrance of how people remembered him. So that's what. Okay.

[35:25] CASSANDRA WALKER: How are you different now than you were before you lost terrence?

[35:32] JILL HENDERSON: Oh, my goodness. Jill, Jill, Jill. Okay. The only way I'm me, I see differently is that I have a more of an interest in justice now than I had before. That was not a really concern of mine. But now that he's. I want to get. I want to get more involved in social justice. As far as being justice for someone being wrongfully accused of something or changing laws to affect something, that's the only thing I can say and see differently. I'm more. I'm not really active, active, but I'm getting more active in that with your help. And also as far as having justice done, if it entails getting lost, change, get more of an activist than I was before. Like I said, I'm just a quiet person. I just do things in the background. But I want to get. I can see myself being more involved in being more of an activist than I was before, and because of him, because of that. And I still, I mean, who knows? One day I may research about this, the gentleman who shot him, but I'm not. Hopefully I can help someone else. If I can't help him, I can help someone else get justice for their family in some way. If I can even, like I said, changing the laws in the country or in our community or just being a voice to say, okay, I had someone that went through the same thing. How can I be of help to you? That's what I see, me being different than I was before, that I'm more community active saying like that than I was before.

[37:50] CASSANDRA WALKER: I know we only have a couple minutes left, but what are your hardest times? Other than, I mean, obviously the day, his birthday and actually taken. Are there any other times that are hard for you?

[38:09] JILL HENDERSON: When I hear other young men who get a shot or something and that it does a trick, gives a trigger at times that I want to say if I hear in the community of even around the country sometimes I don't like to read articles about that, of articles. I don't like to read articles because it'll trigger something about, why is this happening over and over again. But that's only the triggers of that is just when I hear of other young men being shot in some way or another. So that's the only thing that I have. So.

[38:58] CASSANDRA WALKER: Thank you for your time. Anything that you wanted to say that I did not touch on?

[39:08] JILL HENDERSON: No. But I just hope this helps someone. I mean, I don't know if it will or not, but I just, I hope. I hope it. Hope it does. As far as. As being as a person who's lost the son as you have, is that. How can. How can I be of help to someone? If I can help someone along this journey, then my living would not be in vain. So if I can help someone, and hopefully this conversation we're having, we'll be able to help someone. Hopefully, it will.

[39:49] CASSANDRA WALKER: Thank you.

[39:51] JILL HENDERSON: Okay. Bye.