MEMPHIS, Tenn. — She lost her son to gun violence. Months later, her car was stolen while in Memphis for another family member’s funeral. A mother is frustrated with the crime in Memphis.
“Before the call came, I just didn’t feel right,” Erica Scott Williams said. “I just had a bad feeling.”
She lives in Tampa, Florida. She’s from Memphis, and her oldest son, Darrian Scott, lived here.
“His God sister called me. She was on the phone with him at the time all of it transpire,” Williams said.
It was just before 10:30 a.m. on Sunday, Oct. 6.
She said her son agreed to drive a guy to a house on Capen Avenue, where they got into an argument and her son threw a cup.
“The boy shot my son a couple of times. My son ran, and the guy came around and kept shooting my son,” Williams said.
Court documents state officers found 15 shell casings at the scene.
Her son didn’t survive. He was only 26 years old.
“I just I just couldn’t move. I just, I just was in shock,” she said. “I lose my first love. I just miss his smile. If you see the pictures of him, his smile lights up the world.”
Williams tried to get to Memphis as fast as she could.
“At that time, we were dealing with a hurricane,” she said.
The drive was long, and her stay felt even longer when she faced even more distress. The man accused of killing her son had his bond lowered. It allowed him to walk free.
He hasn’t been to court since December, when he waived his preliminary hearing. The case still hasn’t gone to a Grand Jury.
Williams came back to Memphis for a family member’s funeral in February. She parked at an East Memphis hotel loved ones were staying at and ran up to a room to change clothes.
“All of our other stuff was in the car,” she said.
Within two hours, her brown Infiniti was gone.
“I had no emotion, and I knew then when my husband started crying, he was just like, enough is enough,” she said. “My car was basically still brand new. I had just put brand new tires on it. Brand new brakes. Brand new windshield.”
She called police. Eventually, officers recovered the car, but it was totaled. Williams said the sunroof was left open, and heavy rain damaged everything inside.
“We were already dealing with grief and trying to find some type of normalcy. Here I am dealing with this too,” she said.
Williams had to then pay for a rental car to get back to Tampa, so she and her husband wouldn’t miss work. Plus, take out another loan to pay for the new car hoping it wouldn’t impact her credit. Add the emotional toll it’s taken, too.
“I really don’t think people understand the magnitude of how trauma affects you,” she said.
City leaders say crime is down. The police chief has said they’re working operations and working with federal partners to try to get tougher charges and convictions for those arrested for gun crimes.
The mayor added they’re focused on violence intervention and prevention and tackling environmental issues and root causes.
Williams doesn’t think that’s enough.
“Nobody’s being held accountable for anything. Whether that’s the government or whether that’s the people committing the robberies and the murders,” she said. “Because as long as my kid, my oldest, was under my roof, he never went to jail and never went to juvenile. He graduated with honors. Went to college. Had a full ride to school. I raised him as a single mother, because his dad died when he was five.”
Williams said until more parents and elected leaders step up and take accountability, crime will fester and the city will lose good people.
“It hurts as a mother. It hurts. We never expect our children to go before us, especially when they have so much potential,” she said.
Williams said she moved her youngest son out of Memphis due to the crime, and what’s happened now reinforces her decision.