One mother speaks about gun violence and losing her son

LEXINGTON, Ky (WTVQ)– It’s every parents worst nightmare losing a child and is something many parents have described as unimaginable.

Especially when a child’s life is claimed in a senseless way.

For Deana Mullins the loss of her son Sean was the worst pain she could ever go through.

Deana lost her son almost six years ago when someone shot in the car, he and a friend were in. She says she doesn’t understand how her son going to Walmart to pick up batteries for a game, turned into him never coming home.

Deana says Sean was a light in this world and the pain of losing him never stops, no matter how much time has passed.

“And to know that someone took that and decided that his light is not worth shining in this world really, it weighs on you everyday,” said Mullins. “Even six years later I still think oh, what if he was here, what if we were doing this? Or, when I’m doing something sometimes I feel guilty, because he’s not experiencing it.”

Anything can trigger the memory of that horrific day, especially the news of another child that has been shot.

“Every time you hear of a shooting, it takes you back to that moment when you got that phone call and you know exactly how that parent feels,” said Mullins “And the days that they’re going to have to go through, you’ve already walked that.”

Deana says once you go through something like that, you remember every detail. She remembers what time Sean arrived to the hospital, what time he died, what time she received the call and how she felt like she was watching everything happen to someone else.

Deana has three other children, a son and two daughters.  She says that after going through something like this, it changes how you treat each other.

“It pulls you closer, it makes you appreciate life, um and what you have.”

Deana says that if we want gun violence to stop, we need to lock up the guns.

Because if the gun that was used to kill her son had been locked up, maybe he would still be here today.

“It falls back on safe storage, keeping them locked up. Keeping them out of the hands of these kids.”