NEW ORLEANS — “I think ... that moment was the worst."
March 28, 2021, 1:40 p.m. – the exact date and time when this mother’s life changed forever.
“I just lost it,” DeCarlas O’Neal-Johnson said.
A triple shooting at an apartment complex in Algiers took the life of her 18-year-old son, Caleb Johnson, and her 25-year-old stepdaughter, Breyiana Brown.
“Breyiana, Caleb, the other person that was in the car, nobody’s life is ever going to be the same, our lives are forever changed,” O’Neal-Johnson said.
Caleb was just 21 days away from graduating from Edna Karr high School. On Tuesday night, this grieving mother got a reminder of just how much of a standout her son was.
Caleb’s classmates voted him the student with the best smile and an award called “Who Would Have Been Mr. Edna Karr.” The family got together to watch the announcement on Zoom.
“Who knew that he would have won this?” O’Neal-Johnson said. “Who knew that his classmates would have nominated him and he would have won this. You know, it means a lot and it’s memories that I will be able to grasp for the rest of my life.”
On April 14, NOPD arrested 20-year-old Hollis Carter for the shooting. O’Neal-Johnson says she’s glad police were able to find a suspect, but the loss is still overwhelming.
“So hurtful, so personal, it makes you feel like you are violated,” she said.
Senseless violence is the reason for this pain and the reason why instead of graduation cards hanging in her house, this mother is receiving sympathy cards.