MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The family of a man shot to death in North Memphis early Sunday morning says his cousin was also shot, and is fighting for her life in the hospital.
Another man was also shot and is in critical condition, but his identity hasn’t been released.
Police say the three were shot around 4 a.m. at a home on Hyde Park Boulevard near Chelsea Avenue.
Family identified the man killed as Gary Ballard, 40, and say the shooting happened at his home. They tell WREG Ballard was shot at least once in the head, and that his cousin, Senitria Hall, was shot six times.
A large crowd of loved ones surrounded the crime scene for hours, waiting for answers. Things got tense when some tried to move closer to Ballard’s home and were pushed back by police.
“Living or dead, I want to see my son,” said Ballard’s mother, Rosie Ballard.
She consoled other loved ones as they mourned.
“If you’re gonna live, you’ve got to go through it. And that’s the truth. We all got – our time gonna come one day,” she told her niece who was crying on her shoulder.
“God has the last say over any and everything in this world that’s going on, and you know, I just want justice for my child,” she said. “And I loved him so much. I really do. And it hurts, but I’m gonna be OK ‘cause I’m gonna just keep living by God’s words, you know what I’m sayin’?”
But Ballard’s cousin, Celeste Ballard, didn’t take the news so well after having recently lost two other relatives.
“I’m like his favorite little cousin. He’s like a big brother to me. And I just lost my little brother and my older son in 2017,” she said.
“And now my cousin Gary’s gone.”
She says her brother was shot to death in Mississippi and her son was killed in a car accident in Texas.
Family friend Norma Rainey, who has known the Ballards for about 25 years, was devastated to hear about Ballard’s death.
“When I heard the news, I almost fell – I almost passed out. I mean it just keep coming, just keep coming, back-to-back,” she said. “He was real real close to us and he was real special to me and I’m gonna miss him now that he’s gone.”
When Rosie Ballard said goodbye to her son after he stopped by for dinner Saturday night, she had no idea it would be the last time.
“He got ready to go and he loved me – he told me that he loved me, I told him that I loved him, too. I told him ‘go on home,'” she said.
Hours later, she says her friend was frantically pounding on her door.
“She came beating on the door, screaming and hollering saying, “Your son is dead! Your son is dead!” she said. “I really didn’t truly believe it. I really didn’t. And I really don’t believe it now. I really don’t.”
Ballard leaves behind two young children.
His mother says she prays they will eventually see the person who killed their father punished.
“I want justice done,” she said. “I wish the one that did this go to jail. They didn’t have to shoot him in his head.”
Police haven’t made any arrests, but say whoever did it knew the victims.
