CUYAHOGA COUNTY, Ohio — Losing a child is a pain that’s unthinkable and unfair already, but it’s much more indescribable when someone else takes your child away from you.
“It feels like when they killed my son, when those monsters killed my son, they killed me,” said the Cleveland mother, who asked we don’t identify her.
Unfortunately, the pain this mother feels is not uncommon; she asked we hide her identity out of fear for her own safety.
“My son had to have a closed casket because of trauma to them,” said the mother. “He dropped down, they stood over him and shot him the first time, he was still alive, and then that last shot killed him.”
The woman is the mother of Terrion Malone was shot and killed just weeks ago on a Tuesday evening on Cleveland’s East side on his 14th birthday.
“He was just a breath of fresh air,” added the woman. “He was definitely a protector; he loved hard.”
It is an unfortunate yet repetitive cycle of loss that local parents find themselves in.
News 5 requested data from the Cuyahoga County Prosecutors’ Office and learned the number of youth killed in homicides and youth killing other people is increasing.
Youth charged with homicide is up more than 30 percent from 2021 to mid-August, and youth homicide victims are up 50% in the same time period.
News 5 Anchor DaLaun Dillard asked Cuyahoga County Prosecutor Michael O’Malley if there is something that teens are not being offered that they could participate in here in the city to deter them from this.
“You know, it's a great question," O'Malley said. "How do we get into every home and try to get a kid on the right trajectory in life and make him and make every one of them successful? You know, really, what, what I see is there's just so many factors that I think are going into this problem, starting with the availability of guns and juveniles' access to them.”
Family members believe Terrion was set up because he was with his classmates at the time of the shooting.
News 5 asked Cleveland Police for an update on the investigation, and a spokesperson declined to comment, but family members say three people have been charged, and two others are still on the run; their ages are unclear.
“What I can say is that you know, we all need to be more vigilant, being more vigilant in the home, being more vigilant, in schools and more vigilant in, in our community,” O’Malley said.
A similar sentiment was echoed by the grieving mother whose entire world and sense of security was snatched from her, and instead, grief and anguish were handed to her.
“I will also say, like to the parents of teenagers, whether it's good or bad, check your phone, you know, go through their clothes, you know, really check who they really hanging out [with],” the mother said. “Don't let up, I let up, and this is what happened.”
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