Five years after his death, mom of promising metro-east athlete wants his name remembered

She can’t hear his voice or see his face, but Sukeena Gunner vows to make everyone remember her son’s name and the tragic way his young and promising life was ended.

“No matter what year it is as long as I breathe, everybody is going to remember Jaylon McKenzie . I promised my baby that,” she said. “As a kid he always would say ’say my name.’ He always wanted his name said. He thought it was going to come across the speaker in the NFL. That wasn’t the case. But, we are always going to say Jaylon McKenzie’s name.”

On Sunday, at Lakeview Funeral Home and Memorial Garden Cemetery in Fairview Heights, Gunner held a balloon release to commemorate the fifth anniversary of Jaylon’s tragic death by gunfire on May 4, 2019.

He was a “talented, smart, quiet” 14-year-old with a promising future as an athlete. Sports Illustrated had even featured him as one of “six teens who rule the future of sports” following his performance at a Pro Football Hall of Fame Academy and All-American All-Star Game in Canton, Ohio. By eighth grade, Jaylon was being followed by college recruiters and had already offers from Illinois and Missouri.

Though he had attended Central Junior High School in Belleville, he transferred to Mason-Clark Middle School in time to graduate with plans to play football for the East St. Louis Flyers. His death drew national attention.

“You would think things would get better, but I am kind of at a stand still” said Gunner, his mother. “Some people think it gets better with time, but deep down inside I don’t feel better. I miss my child.”

Jaylon would have graduated from high school last spring. Gunner walked across the stage instead to receive a diploma in his honor.

This time of year, she finds herself thinking of the what-ifs.

“This is prom season. Kids are getting scholarships and they are going off to school. It’s cap season,” she said. “There are so many seasons around his death date. He would’ve been finishing his freshman year of college.

“So, I do a lot of what if’s: What if my baby had made it? What college would he have gone to? What would his grades be like? what would our conversations be like? I live my life through what if’s. It may not be a good thing, but that’s all I have left is what ifs. I want to know how God could give me such a talented young man and he be stripped away from me in the manner he was stripped away from me.”

Then there’s the promise of what she believes was yet to come for her son. The NFL held its annual draft in Detroit just last week. Jaylon’s promise as a football player and his dream of playing professionally creates more what-ifs.

“I get excited for them and their families who get to watch their kids reach their dreams. I am sad, too,” Gunner said. “Jaylon was a great football player. He started playing football at the age of 5 and he wanted to start at 3. Every year after he started playing his goal was to get better and better. He would sit in the basement and watch his own videos and clippings. He watched some of his favorite players on You Tube. He took some things from them and made them his own.

“Every year I watched my baby go from being a basic football player to being this great football player. Now, I am left with only my imagination of what his later career would’ve been like”

According to Illinois State Police, Jaylon was attending a graduation party in the 600 block of 3rd Street in Venice on May 4, 2019. A fight broke out and gunshots were fired. A stray bullet struck the promising young athlete and he died shortly after at an area hospital.

A 15-year-old girl also was hit, police said at the time, but her name and condition have never been released.

Gunner has always said her son never really went out. This one time that he did, he did not make it back home.

Five people were arrested and charged in Madison County in connection with Jaylon’s death, Though Gunner calls their sentences a slap on the wrist. Those charged include:

• Antonio Whitehead entered a plea agreement on charges of aggravated discharge of a firearm and was sentenced to six years with credit for time already served.

• Maurice Dickerson entered a plea agreement on charges of aggravated discharge of a firearm and was sentenced to two years of probation plus penalties and fees.

• Shuntez R. Fair was charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm. His jury trial is scheduled to begin on May 13.

• Jaylen Staten was charged with aggravated discharge of a firearm, reckless discharge of a firearm and aggravated unlawful use of a weapon. According to Madison County records, the case was terminated on Oct. 31, 2021.

• Larrion Shelby pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated discharge of a firearm and was sentenced to two years of probation.

“I honestly don’t believe justice was served. They got the bare minimum of a punishment,” Gunner said. “The time they served or did not serve was not fair. My baby lost his life and he was an innocent victim at a party. He did not know any of the guys who were shooting. He probably did not know very many party goers.

“Unfortunately, he lost his life because of the beef those guys had amongst each other.”

Jaylon loved fast food, especially chicken nuggets. His mother misses him talking about them and wanting to go get some. She said she also misses “his warm hugs and his beautiful smile.”

The last conversation she had with her son was in the afternoon on the day he died. They had just left her other son, Brandon’s, track meet.

“He already convinced me to buy him this $600 pair of Alexander McQueen tennis shoes to wear the night of his prom. He already had his suit,” Gunner recalled. “He said he only needed those shoes. But, that day May 4 he wanted me to stop by the mall to get a jade for necklace. It was $40.

“That was the last positive conversation we had. We laughed about it. He said he only wanted the shoes , but then he really wanted that necklace. That was the last opportunity for me to purchase something for him as well.”

She says she’s happy she made those purchases for her son who she said had not given her any problems, was focused on doing the right things, and always carried himself in a respectable, positive manner.