Tintawee Christian was killed during a drive-by shooting on Aug. 17, 2020 while walking home.
The family of Tintawee Christian, a 16-year-old teenager from St. Croix who was killed during a drive-by shooting two years ago, say they want justice for their son, which is seemingly no closer than it was on the night of August 17, 2020.
“Imagine losing your son and having to live with it every day with no justice,” said Shemona Cascen during an interview with the Consortium Sunday, which was carried live on the publication's Facebook platform.
She said she walks pass that area every day on her way to work, a constant and painful reminder that her son is no longer among the living and although she tries her best to move on, Ms. Cascen says there are simply moments when she breaks down.
“Since his passing it’s been difficult. I may not display but it’s been very hard,” she said.
“I mean sleepless nights. Sometimes I send a text to his dad or my older sister, just breaking down saying the things that I think. Sometimes I’m at work and out of the blue I just break down; a little memory may come across my mind and I just break down. I wake up in the morning, I’m feeling good, we’re [conversing], ready to be on my way to work on any day and sometimes I just break down. It’s like I’m still in denial." v
“We want justice, it’s not going to bring him back but at least we want some kind of closure,” she insists.
“Even though the time has passed, two years, we’re still grieving inside,” remarked Tintawee's father Brian Christian, who says he still cannot bring himself to believe that his son has died even after seeing the photo on a funeral booklet – a booklet he wakes up to every morning.
“Sometimes he comes to me in a dream and in the middle of the night I might wake up. It’s just like a constant pain,” he managed. Saddened, he added, “We can’t bring him back or anything, so it’s something we have to learn to live with."
On the day he died, Tintawee was not working with his father as he usually did because he had been suffering with a pinch nerve in his back.
“We really need justice. It would bring closure, at least we could know that the individuals who are responsible for this, that they are no longer walking about because it’s like they commit this crime and nobody has been even arrested much less shaken down,” the father said.
“They're living free, they're doing everything normal, we’re here losing sleep trying to figure out why. It’s just not acceptable,” Ms. Cascen chimed in.
Tintawee, who has been described by many who knew him as vibrant, smart and full of potential, would have celebrated his 19th birthday on September 25th. Before his death in 2020, his parents said he was busy thinking of ways and making preparation on how he would celebrate his 17th birthday.
Today, his family wonders what he would have become, his mother telling the Consortium, “It left us wondering what it would be like, what he would be doing today."
His sister, T’noi Christian, said for the first year after he died “it was hard” but now she thinks about their interactions. It’s how she copes with losing her brother who was just three years older.
The trauma of that night on August 17, 2020 still remains with her, explaining, “Sometimes it replays in my head, like every time I hear a noise because I was in the house when it happened, so every time I hear a noise I jump and I’d shake a little bit."
It’s a trauma that the rest of the family knows too well. Tintawee’s mother was at work when she got the call that her son had died, telling Consortium, “That was just not a call I was expecting to receive."
"To see your son lying there, tears in his eyes, it's just the worst feeling," she recalled.
“When I get a phone call right now... any phone call coming from home is like an alert, is like my hair stand up; it's like hopefully this ain’t no bad news again,” the father added.
“It was really terrible reaching on the scene and seeing my son lying on the ground. It was a heartache – I could actually feel my heart moving,” he said.
“Not to question the almighty, they say things happen for a reason but I'm still searching for the reason why. People say maybe it was just his time but he had so much life in front him, he had so much to accomplish, so much planned," Tintawee's father continued.
The family, while they wait on law enforcement for answers and closure, are trying to keep Tintawee’s memory alive by reviewing his text messages and videos or remembering a good day spent with him.
His room remains the same; nothing has been moved since he died and his mother says she has no intention of changing anything.
The family has been keeping in contact with the lead detective on the case and says what is needed is for someone who was there that night to come forward and say what they saw to give the police probable cause to investigate the person.
Still, Mr. Christian said even though people within the community know and that names have been circulating on the streets, no one has come forward with information that would cause law enforcement to act.
They are pleading with community members to come forward and help identify the killers involved in their son’s untimely death. They have also called for the eradication of gun violence which has left many families grieving.
