Denver mom mourns son killed in Easter shooting, calls for end to gun violence: "My son deserved to be here"

More than a week since a tragic shooting struck a Denver family during an Easter barbecue near Russell Square Park, one mother is now mourning the loss of her son.

"I feel lost," said Shy-la Metcalfe. "Now I don't come home to him, I come home to his room, his empty room."

Metcalfe's son, 18-year-old Pharrow Ware, was a vibrant young man with his whole life ahead of him.

"He was the sweetest kid," said Metcalfe. "Always willing to help. [He] has the biggest friend group. When he walked into the room, he lit up the room."

He wanted to become an actor and was already looking forward to starting college in the fall.

"My son deserved to be here. He worked hard to graduate," she added.

Pharrow was at an Easter party with his dad and siblings on April 5, when he was caught in the middle of a gunfire exchange between suspects driving by Russell Square Park, and a 34-year-old man who was at the party.

Pharrow's aunt was killed, and he was rushed to the hospital with gunshot wounds.

"He stopped getting blood flow to one of his feet, so they had to amputate his leg. After they amputated one of his legs, he stopped getting blood flow to his other foot," said Metcalfe. "So, they wanted to amputate his other leg and I wouldn't let them. They had to break his ribs because he coded four times and so they had to massage his heart to get him to start beating again."

After multiple surgeries, Metcalfe and Pharrow's dad made the decision to take their son off life support. Pharrow passed away on the night he was supposed to be going to his prom.

"Instead of him picking out a suit to wear to one of the nights that he earned, his last year of high school, his last go around with his friends, he has to wear it in a casket," said Metcalfe.

While no charges have been issued in this shooting, Denver police are still working to identify the circumstances surrounding the shooting, as well as the suspects who were in the car that exchanged gunfire.

"If for one second I. thought my son wouldn't come home, I don't think I would've let him walk out the door," said Metcalfe.

It is a numbing feeling for Metcalfe and her family, but it is not the first time they've experienced this kind of gun violence in their family.

"My oldest son was killed by gun violence," she said. "It'd be four years ago...  April 25."

As she now wrestles with burying another son on the heels of that anniversary, she says she wants to see an end to gun violence in the community and hold people more accountable for the lives they've cut short.

"You make these decisions that ruin people's lives, that take lives, that turn families upside down," she said. "I feel like they should be held accountable to the fullest extent."

There will be a community meeting on Thursday, April 16 at 6 p.m. at the St. Charles Recreation Center in Denver, where people in the community will have the opportunity to engage and ask questions following this devastating shooting.