GRESHAM, Ore. (KOIN) — Friday night, John Lowery Jr.’s family released balloons in the spot where he was gunned down Oct. 19, 2014.
As candles flickered, his mother recalled memories of happy times with her first-born son.
“I had trouble with him on the delivery table,” his mother Fannie Page said. “That was my miracle baby and they took him away from me for nothing. He didn’t deserve it.”
A.D. Bailey III was booked into the Clark County Jail Thursday on one count of murder with a firearm. Bailey, police said, is a “documented gang member.”
Gresham police said John Lowery Jr. died Oct. 25, 2014 after being shot in the parking lot of the 76 Gas/7-Eleven store on Oct. 19.
“He was my world, he was my first born,” she said. “It’s a hole that nobody, never ever can put back inside of me. This is something that I have to carry for the rest of my life without my baby.”
Close friend Lakeshia Jones said his death “shocked us all, 100%. I cry all the time. His family cries all the time.”
Crystal Minor, who was Lowery Jr.’s fiance’, said, “Justice has been served now.”
The triple shooting at Last Thursday touched a nerve for Page.
“I feel like this needs to come to an end because this is hurting parents, their kids, this is hurting everybody,” she said.
One death from gang violence creates more than just one victim, she said. She’s urging those involved in gangs to find common ground, a start in the battle to curb the tide of gang violence.
“They need to put this color down. It doesn’t make sense. We are all as one. We should love each other as one, as equals.”