PINE BLUFF, Ark.– A mother who had one son killed and another shot in Arkansas County pleads for the gun violence to stop in the Jefferson County city that she now calls home.
Stephanie Buie, who goes by Anne, says her pain moves with her wherever she goes.
Pine Bluff PD has investigated multiple shootings in the last week.
The Arkansan moved to Pine Bluff from Stuttgart last year after getting married. The mom shares her story to try to help stop the violence as it spikes in her new city.
We want to warn you some people may consider photos in the report graphic.
A blanket, pictures around her home and medical supplies by this mother’s Pine Bluff front door show why the town’s many shootings in the week leading up to mother’s day have Buie praying and pleading for people to put their guns away.
“I would be right to say that even though you are alive your mother will be feeling the same pain I’m feeling because you don’t have those hugs anymore,” she said.
3 months ago her youngest son Zyrique “Zack” Geans was shot and killed in their hometown of Stuttgart days after his 20th birthday.
Pictures of a woman’s murdered son decorate her living room where medical supplies for her other son sit. 3 months ago a mother had 2 sons shot in about a week. She speaks out on TV for the first time tonight- to try to stop violence in Arkansas. #ARNews pic.twitter.com/kcyZGMrUdS— Price McKeon (@PriceMcKeon) May 10, 2019
She said, “When it comes to the pain that a mother feels it is… it’s I can’t even describe it.”
The week before her 24-year-old son was shot and left for dead in the same town.
“I wonder you know what I did wrong. I find myself beating myself up to see what I could’ve done better,” she said.
She shared her pain on TV for the first time so people thinking of pulling a trigger might think twice and stop even if it’s only to protect their own mothers from pain.
“It’s just ongoing because the memories are there. The memories are there. I find myself sometimes just smelling his cologne. It’s just a reminder of him,” she said.
To see the full, raw copy of her emotional interview and message to the community, watch the clip below.
