CHARLOTTE — A man’s mother said she still feels pain 10 years after a police officer shot and killed him in Charlotte.
The death of Jonathan Ferrell, who was 24, stunned people throughout the community, and many came together Thursday night to remember him.
“I don’t care how low I get, I know God is going to lift me up,” said Georgia Ferrell, his mother.
Georgia Ferrell said she would have attended Thursday night’s vigil but she had health issues.
“I ended up getting COVID it almost took me out, but I had the faith that God was going to take care of me and he did, put me on dialysis,” she said.
It was the first time an officer was criminally charged in a shooting in more than 30 years in the Queen City.
Ferrell wrecked his car in the Bradfield Farms neighborhood in the middle of the night. The Florida A&M student went to a nearby home for help and the occupant called the police.
Former Officer Randall “Wes” Kerrick was one of three responding officers. At some point, Ferrell charged at Kerrick who shot him more than 10 times. Prosecutors quickly charged Kerrick believing that it was obvious that Ferrell was not armed. The jury deadlocked and the case was not tried again, which is one of the disappointments for the people at the vigil.
“Over the years, I just wonder, ‘Had we got this case right? What would have happened with all the other shootings? Would those have happened?’” said Kass Otley, the vigil’s organizer.
Georgia Ferrell had a message for those who attended.
“Be kind, but just stand up for what is right,” she said. “Let’s do this to make a change. Let’s stop some of the killings, not only with officers killing our people, but with us killing each other.”
VIDEO: 2021 Vigil to remember Jonathan Ferrell
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