JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A year has passed since a Jacksonville mother last saw her teenage son alive and she still doesn't know who killed him at a bus stop on the Westside.
Last July, Tradarius Alexander, 18, was found dead from a gunshot wound in the middle of Detroit Street near Commonwealth Avenue in the city's Woodstock neighborhood.
His mother is pleading for justice by urging the community to speak up about who pulled the trigger.
"I promised my son that I would be his voice and I would speak for him and get justice for him," said Ralaunda Bray, Alexander's mother. "He was a loving child, he loved kids. He wasn't perfect but he was my son, he didn't deserve what happened to him."
Bray carries pictures of her son with her everyday on signs, jewelry and on the back windshield of her car.
"As long as there's breath in my body, Tradarius won't be forgotten, his case will not be a cold case," Bray said.
She said her son died July 9, 2017, less than a half-mile from where he lived, and since then police have received tips but nothing has led to an arrest because people are afraid of retaliation.
MADD DADS held a community canvass of the neighborhood Saturday. Donald Foy, who heads the Jacksonville chapter of the group, wants residents to break the code of silence so Alexander's murder can be solved.
"There's so many unsolved murders. Our babies are being taken from us and no one wants to speak up and tell what they know to help us get closure and peace," said Bray.
Records show that so far this year there have been 53 murders and just 11 arrests in those cases.
Bray said people in the neighborhood need to speak up, not only for the victims and their families but for the safety of community.
She also has a message to whoever killed her son.
"If you can be a man and pull the trigger, be a man and do your time. Own up to what ya'll do. Parents shouldn't have to bury their kids," Bray said.
Anyone with information about the killing can remain anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at 1-866-845-TIPS.