Mother remembers 7-year-old killed in shooting last month

'There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about my baby,' mother says

JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – The sweet face of Tashawn Gallon is only a memory now to those who love him.  

Tashawn, 7, was caught in the crossfire of a shootout as he was playing in the front yard of a home last month in Durkeeville.

His mother is still reliving the night she found out her only son had been murdered.

"It's been rough. It still feels like yesterday," Ciara Smith said. "There's not a day that goes by that I don't think about my baby."

Tashawn was one of several children shot in Jacksonville last month.

The local activist group MAD DADs held a rally Sunday, hoping to find Tashawn's killer. No one's been arrested yet in connection with the murder, which is reason enough to keep fighting, MAD DADs president Donald Foy said.

"We went out and canvassed that neighborhood. The community has got to step forward and tell what they know," Foy said. 

A month of family gatherings and vigils have passed, and Tashawn's mother said that now she spends every day praying for justice in her son's murder.

"Shame on you. That was my baby. My 7-year-old. He didn't do anything to anybody," Smith said. "He didn't deserve this. Justice is all I want for my baby, and justice is what I'll get for Tashawn Gallon." 

CrimeStoppers is offering a $20,000 reward to anyone who provides information leading to an arrest in the case. 


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