Five months after a homicide

Dovon Harris, 15, was murdered in Watts five months ago, dying on June 17. The Homicide Report has been following his family's experience in monthly installments since then.

This month, a very short, belated report on Barbara Pritchett, Dovon's mother:

Readers may recall that by four months after Dovon's murder, Barbara Pritchett had gone back to her job as a home-health worker. She had taken the first steps toward seeking counseling for her grief over her son's death. But her grief remained a daily struggle. She reported having problems functioning at work, and had taken two sick days because of uncontrollable crying.

This month, when HR checked in five months after Dovon's death, Pritchett said she had been forced to give up working, too emotionally distraught to hold herself together on the job with consistency. She is back at home now during the day, providing child care for other family members. She had finally settled on a counseling service to send a therapist to her home, but was still waiting for the agency to set an appointment. The upcoming holidays were proving difficult to face without her son, and she said she was focused on "just trying to get through" Thanksgiving and Christmas. HR will return to Dovon's family for a longer report the week before Christmas to mark the six-month point since his murder.

See Four Months After a Homicide,   Three Months After, Two Months After and One Month After.

Comments

[cheryl]

to the mom say it any way you can if i could shout from the rooftop of the highest buikding in los angeles i would i miss my child too so let this mom get her grief out anyway she can some of us mothers wish we could shout it out too god bless you and keep it moving, amen

[Vicky]

After reading some of the comments regarding Barbara's story, I felt the need to respond. There should be no issue whether or not Barbara's story is told. If Barbara is not complaining. As a matter of fact, Barbara's story being told helps ALL of us. Of course, everybody wants their stories told but it just ain't going to happen. If you're not out in the struggle before things happen...Guess what? You're just another statisic. No disrespect meant. Barbara's Brother and other people have been trying to make a positive change in the community for years so when this unfortunate incident happened, everybody came to help. I always say, "Get Involved by Choice Not Force. Don't Wait until It Hits Your Doorstep To Feel That There's A Problem". None of us are immuned from this violence that ill-affects our communities. We all are ill affected, be it directlky or indirectly. Barbara's story is helpful to all of us. Unfortunately, the story folks are "hatin' on " is about her pain because of the murder of her child. Let the story that will be told about those of you who are NOT in Barbara's shoes, my shoes and so many others' shoes be about how you stepped out of your comfort zones and begin to make a difference in our communities. Remember this sh#! happens "from the top of the hill to the bottom of the hood". Feel free to hit me back at projectcrynomore@aol.com and I'll connect you with people and organizations that are out redirecting and changing lives which in return improves our communities. By the way, I am the Mother of a son who was murdered at the age of 19 in the city of Compton inside of the car by the guys (friends???) he was riding with on Thursday, November 9, 1995. Before you ask...I'll tell you that YEAH... I was involved in making a difference in our communities since 1988. And no, it was not a conspiracy because I was involved with making changes. It was purely because of IGNORANCE. Next question: Were they gangmembers? NO, they were MURDERERS!

[unbelieveable]

Preach it!!!! U are so right tanisha. These people just don't get it

[tanisha jones]

its not about us. so why are so many concerned with why she is getting interviews. u have got to realize this may be helping her to process her grief. there are people out there who dont know what its like to bury someone they dont understand that the pain doesnt end when the fueneral is over. people need to realize that when everyone else goes on with their lives there are certain people who cant. their lives will never be the same. if anything we should be happy that she gets to tell her story because many familys do not. it hurts me as the sister/ next of kin of a recent murder victim that anyone who has been through it personally would question her being able to share her experiences. leave this woman alone, she has been through enough. i look forward to hearing more of her story because at 23 years of age i know what doesnt kill you will only make you stronger. i fully support her decision to share her feelings with readers because somewhere someone is reading it and they will no longer doubt that they are the only one going through dealing with a loss.

[Murder in the Family]

I have a sister that lost her only son to a senseless murder. To this day, the murderer(s) has not been caught. I was very close to this nephew and its been almost (5) years from his death, and we still talk about him, remember the many things we did together as family cousins and friends. We have still have that one question "WHO KILLED HIM!" What I don't understand is why you guys are trying to make us live her pain and what her struggles are about her sons death, when you have families that has lost a love ones and we are still dealing with thier own pain. I just hope and pray that she gets the help she needs to continue living. She will never get over losing him, but praying to the LORD with strengthen her more than she will ever know. GOD BLESS YOU

[Victor Conedy]

Sadly, there are groups of mothers of murdered children that meet to discuss and help each other make it through the horrible journey of losing a child.
Find such a group near her and give her that information. Reporting on her grief is like watching someone drown and describing the water.

[livininthecity]

the pain is obvious`there, 2, 4, 6 months a parent will never get over this, whats the point of this????