ST. MARY PARISH, La. ( KLFY )– March 28 marks two years since the death of Jalen Walker, 29 . Walker’s mother Marcelle Hoskins said his death was a devastation.
“You had to kind of put yourself in another mode,” Hoskins said. “You’re trying to deal with grief, family grief. You’re trying to deal with working with the case and all that kind of stuff. So as time progresses you don’t have time to grieve. Well, I didn’t anyway. I was motivated just to kind of put on the armor and go in and deal with it,” she said. “I thank God for me, being a Christian. I thank God that I’m strong but it hits you in your soul. It really does and sometimes you get a little warning. Sometimes you don’t. They just come. I knew this time was coming. It came very, very fast.”
Suspect in Carmel Drive shooting convicted of second degree murder Hoskins explained how the first year was a difficult time because of the holidays. Her son was killed on March 28, and his birthday was April 8. Then on April 16, Hoskins buried her son. The very next day it was Easter. Then it was Walker’s daughter’s birthday April 26.
“Each holiday that came in the first year I had a distraction each holiday which was a good distraction,” Hoskins said. “Then the next year, which is this year reality sort of kicks in like it’s saying, okay, your son’s not coming back.”
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She said she missed her son’s phone calls as they would talk every day; seven, or eight times a day, and he would ask for advice. This year she admits she is unsure of how she is supposed to feel.
“I don’t know how I’m supposed to feel. I just know that we feel him here [inside her house]. It’s very peaceful here. The kids feel him here,” she said.
For Walker’s death anniversary, she spent it with his three children left behind. She remembers the gifts, and moments left behind of her son she holds in her heart. For other parents who may have lost a child, she shared a message to keep fighting.
“I just feel like you have to put on the armor and get ourselves together and it’s hard,” Hoskins said. “It’s very, very hard as a mother. My child is murdered so whether your child is murdered or whether the child dies from an illness or something. It’s really hard but I embrace the new life because this is what I consider myself now. I’ll never be the same because I’ve lost a child and when you lose one, you can have five or six and you lose one and it feels like your soul is lost some. If you’ve lost your child and they were murdered. You have to fight the good fight of faith. You have to put on and it’s hard, but you have to put on the armor, cover yourself, and know that God is with you.”
She added grieving parents should try to stay focused and keep busy; try to not stay in the house as much because depression can set in deep. In addition, she said meditating every day helps.
“As far as the restoration process, I look at it as if God has removed my son, and then now I have to work on the restoration and for me to be restored, there’s no time limit. It could take years and years and then throughout the process to be restored in the restoration process God reveals. He reveals little pieces to the puzzle that you have questions about and I share that with other mothers because it’s important for them to know it’s not going to come all at one time. You just have to figure it out,” she said. “We as mothers, tend to fight for our children but sometimes we take our hands off of stuff and say, Look, I’m tired. God, I need your help and then just wait on him and he’s going to be there for you.”
March 13 at the 15th Judicial District Courthouse Judge Michele Billeaud sentenced Walker’s killer Zachary Markey Adams to life in prison with hard labor.
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