Whenever Jennie Mosby sees the cherry blossom tree in Starkville’s Patriot Park, memories come rushing back.
She remembers sadness, the kindness of the community, but most of all her son, Laterrance McCarter. She remembers the final words they spoke to each other, “I love you. I’ll see you when you get home.” McCarter’s life was cut short Nov. 26, 2019, at 23 years old, when he fell victim to gun violence.
“Of course, (I think of) the hurt,” Mosby said. “But then right in behind that hurt, there’s joy, because there’s something that’s there. Trees live for so long, but no matter what has happened, with that tree standing there, it lets me know I’m still standing, my family, we’re still standing, even though we lost such a precious person.”
McCarter was the first to be honored by Judicial District 16 District Attorney Scott Colom’s memorial tree planting program.
A unique kind of pain
In January 2020, Colom’s office began reaching out to the families of the victims of gun violence in the four counties of the 16th Circuit under his jurisdiction, which includes Lowndes, Oktibbeha, Clay and Noxubee, offering them the chance to have a tree planted in their loved ones’ honor. The program soon began offering rose bushes as well, if families did not have the space or ability to care for a tree.
Since that time, the program has planted almost 25 trees or bushes across the area.
“The criminal justice system gives you legal closure and justice through prosecution and punishment and deterrence. But it doesn’t necessarily help with the emotional healing required when you lose a loved one to gun violence,” Colom said. “… That’s a unique kind of pain, and I know the healing from that grief is going to take a long time, and it’s going to be a process of endurance and learning to live with the loss. I felt like a tree, the way it takes a long time to grow, was kind of a symbolic thing for that type of grief and something that could always be with the survivors.”
Victims’ families determine the planting time and location. Colom said many choose to hold the event on a significant date in the loved one’s life such as a birthday or the anniversary of their death.
For the families of the victims, it helps simply knowing someone acknowledges their pain.
“For someone to reach out and they genuinely care, and you can tell, it means a lot,” Mosby said. “I’ve never been able to find the words to really express how I feel … it means a lot to know that the district attorney and many other people do care, and they’re there along the way. Even going through this, I’ve gained friends, and I don’t just look at them as someone that just reached out to me, they’re family.”
While offering a symbol of hope for the families is the main goal, Colom said there is a secondary goal aimed at the perpetrators of gun violence.
“I was trying to make a little bit of a deterrent by publicizing the fact that we’re having to plant these trees because of a loss and the pain that’s caused and the trauma it is causing the survivors,” Colom said. “(I hope it) would be a message to the people that are choosing to exercise gun violence that there’s a real pain that they cause.”
He said it is hard to measure the effectiveness of a deterrent such as this, but it was at least worth trying.
‘Don’t lose faith’
The program is completely funded through Colom’s office.
Colom is also trying to establish a program to give financial assistance to children whose parents are the victims of gun violence.
“The legal system spends a lot of energy and effort and resources trying to prosecute the person, but there’s not a lot of help out there for the survivors,” Colom said. “So a young person loses their life. They have children. All of a sudden, the grandparents are now raising a child, or aunts and uncles are raising a child. Other people have to step up, and then that’s a financial burden on them and an emotional burden. One of the things I’m hoping to do soon is try to give monetary assistance to children that have lost their parents to gun violence to help support not only their emotional recovery, but financial recovery.”
In the meantime, Mosby offered some advice to families going through similar situations as herself. She encourages faith and unity not just amongst the families, but the community as a whole.
“Don’t lose faith, even though it’s hard,” Mosby said. “Just continue to pray and be the spokesperson for that loved one that’s been taken away. Be their voice. Talk about (gun violence), educate, go out and speak to the community, interact with the children and let them know, ‘Hey, there’s more to them than just getting a gun and shooting.’ When you have children who have no one to point them in the right direction, then that’s where we as a community, no matter what the race, color, no matter what, we should step up and help them through that and form some type of community bond.”
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You can help your community
Quality, in-depth journalism is essential to a healthy community. The Dispatch brings you the most complete reporting and insightful commentary in the Golden Triangle, but we need your help to continue our efforts. In the past week, our reporters have posted 28 articles to cdispatch.com. Please consider subscribing to our website for only $2.30 per week to help support local journalism and our community.
