An emotional conversation was held with a South Florida mother who lost her son during a mass shooting on the campus of the University of Virginia. She’s reflecting on the day that changed several lives forever.
“I was in Miami, far away from D’Sean,” Happy Perry said.
One year after her son was shot and killed while at school at the University of Virginia, D’Sean Perry‘s mother remembers the last times they spoke.
“He told me that they were coming back, on grounds, he was headed to the garage to get in his car,” she said.
He never called.
Perry was one of three football players who were gunned down last year, while returning to campus after a trip to Washington D.C. To earn extra credit.
Police charged a fellow student with the crime.
Perry went to school at Gulliver Prep in Pinecrest. He then went on to make a name for himself in football.
His mother said that every day, someone in her South Florida community offered love and support.
“It’s given me a reason to wake up and push and fight on my darkest days,” Happy said. “I can just sit back and read a card and it will get me out of those tough spots.”
One year after their murders, there were tributes on campus.
Perry’s mother calls it, not an anniversary, but a day of remembrance.
“And to know they were loved and will be loved, and that they’re legacy will live on in the City of Charlottesville, it’s very heartwarming,” she said.
The family’s lawyer said all families of gun violence, have to keep re-living it.
“Everyday they turn on the news and they see a Uvalde, and they see a Maine, and the see a Dollar General, it’s incredibly triggering, and not only to the families, but to the UVA students,” Mike Haggard said.
Perry’s mother said that the time is now to protect our children.
“We have to fight for our children fight for our future, fight for our world,” she said.
Perry’s mother and father said that part of their healing includes supporting the football team and their son’s friends.