‘Where do we go from here?’ Family, community mourn 9-year-old Z’yon Person

One week after 9-year-old Z’yon Person was shot in a drive-by shooting in Durham, people gathered at the intersection where multiple bullets pierced his aunt’s SUV.

They had been on the way to get snow cones.

Balloons, signs, flowers and stuffed animals crowded the corner on the intersection of Duke and Leon Streets around 8 p.m. Sunday, as the light faded from the overcast sky.

Someone propped against a telephone pole a gold-framed photo of Z’yon with white wings.

Minister Torrey Green asked the community to point their hand toward Z’yon’s mother, as she stood among the crowd clutching family and wearing sunglasses that blocked her tears but not her mouth as it twisted in grief.

Green prayed for God to respond to the cries of help in the community, to clean up the area and to stay with the family when the crowds dwindle.

“We shall continue to fight for our community. We shall continue to no longer be quiet about these senseless killings, Father,” said Green, who preaches at Bell Yeager Free Will Baptist Church in Durham. “That word ‘snitches’ is killing our community, Father. We can’t continue to let kids’ blood shed on these streets.”

‘Where do we go from here’

The murder was senseless, he said, and encouraged members of the community to put down their guns and walk away from the senseless violence.

And then he asked: “Where do we go from here?”

“We see a bunch of killings and nothing happens after the vigils,” he said. “It just goes away, it disappears, and people forget.”

“Not this family,” declared Sandra Person, Z’yon’s grandmother. “It’s not going down like that.”

Person vowed to push the community to remember Z’yon and advocate for longer sentences for people who kill children.

Green said that people shouldn’t look at the intersection as a bad place but a place that convinced people to stop shooting and start sharing information with police.

Since July, at least five children have been hurt by gunfire, including an 8-year-old who was shot in the back while in her home on July 15. Her 11-year-old brother was injured but not shot, The News & Observer reported.

A 3-month-old was shot in the thigh on July 22. And Z’yon’s 8-year-old cousin was shot in the arm, which was still wrapped in a bandage at the vigil.

‘He is going to change the community’

“This spot changed lives. Led our community to stop getting away with mess,” Green said. “This little man, he is going to change our community.”

Z’yon’s aunt Danyell Ragland was taking the kids to Pelican’s SnowBalls just before 9 p.m. on Aug. 18 when someone in a burgundy Honda Accord fired shots into the car, The News & Observer reported.

Z’yon, his sister and three cousins were in the the SUV.

After Z’yon was shot in the head, he fell into his 11-year-old sister’s lap, his grandmother Sandra Person said in an interview.

Z’yon, a rising fourth-grader at Penny Road Elementary, died the next day. His funeral will be held Tuesday in Raleigh. A GoFundMe memorial fund campaign to help the family pay for funeral (bit.ly/2KOpTSd) and other expenses has raised more than $10,000.

Tammie Goodman’s son, Charleston Goodman, disappeared in January 2018 and search warrants indicate Durham police are investigating the case as a homicide.

Charleston Goodman was Z’yon’s godfather, Tammie Goodman said.

Goodman, who has known Z’yon since he was a baby, said she feels like she has lost a son and a grandson.

“Citizens of Durham need to stop being silent,” Goodman said. “If we stop some of this silence, we can stop a lot of this violence.”

Another shooting reported

After Green spoke, the crowd lit dozens of candles. The gold-framed photo of Z’yon was held up above the crowd that surrounded Z’yon’s mother and family.

Biddy Newborn, from Mount Calvary Word of Faith Church in Raleigh, then broke into the gospel song “Safe in His Arms.”

After that and other songs, Newborn reached out to Zyon’s aunt who had been driving the car and told her it wasn’t her fault.

Ragland fell on her shoulder and started crying.

“Even though you lost your nephew, you had nothing to do with that,” Newborn said. “You did all you could to protect him. I told her God will bring vengeance.”

About an hour before the vigil started, a shooting was reported in northern Durham, according to Durham police watch commanders. One vehicle was shot at near the intersection of Danube Lane and Old Oxford Road and then again on Carver Street.

No one was shot, a Durham police watch commander said Sunday night, but a man was scratched.

There were people driving around shooting at each other, the watch commander said.

This story was originally published August 26, 2019 at 7:16 AM.