MEMPHIS, TN – “I just wanted him to say something…open his eyes or something. But he wasn’t responding. Oh lord have mercy,” said 33-year-old Rosalind Shields.
Her pain is one no parent should know – watching first hand as their child is violently killed.
Shields will never forget how driving along Airways and Ketchum in South Memphis last Monday turned deadly.
“I saw the gun before I heard the shots. You know like you look when someone pulls up beside you,” said Shields. “You gonna do a glance. I looked and the gun was already out. When he pulled up the gun was already out.”
She was a passenger. Her friend, another female, was driving and there were three kids in the back seat. It didn’t matter. The three cars pulled up on both sides of them and sprayed bullets.
“He shot once and everybody like ducked. We were like they are shooting at us. Then the other shots started and we were like get down, get down!” said Shields.
Her friend sped away and drove to a nearby police station with 10-year-old Jordan fighting for his life in the back seat.
“I am down on the floor. I turned to look back at the kids. That’s when I realized my baby was hit. Lord! I saw the blood and he was like, I don’t know if he was trying to talk or what. He just slumped over and….,” said Shields.
Ten year old Richard didn’t make it. He died at the hospital.
Shields’ friend and the woman’s 12-year-old son were also shot, but survived.
“I heard my baby take his last breath and I am still like why. I looked under his shirt and realized he was shot in the chest. I just knew. I knew I had lost my baby. I am still like why? Why?” she said.
Richard’s father, Richard Jordan Junior, got the devastating call a short time later.
“They had called us into the emergency room. They were trying to bring him back to life. I couldn’t take it. I couldn’t take it. I broke down right then and there,” said the father.
Now these parents are left with the horror of not knowing who did this.
“Deep down in my soul I know me and my friend ain’t did nothing to make someone want to just kill us,” said Shields.
Even worse, police are not getting many clues. They have re-issued their call for tips.
“Someone knows who recklessly fired shots and took the life of a 10-year-old boy who will not be able to grow up,” said Memphis Police Director Mike Rallings earlier this week.
“We are still like why? You never think this would happen to you. You hear it on the news and when it hits home you are like ok. Something gotta give. Somebody knows something,” said Shields.
Ten year old Richard Jordan III, a fun-loving child who played football, will be laid to rest Saturday, but his family won`t rest until his killer is caught.
If you know anything about the shooting or the 3 cars involved, call Crime Stoppers at 901-528-CASH.
You can get a reward and remain anonymous.
