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Richmond mom tangles with Facebook after son fatally shot

Posted at 6:38 PM, Jan 23, 2018
and last updated 2018-01-23 18:38:54-05

RICHMOND, Va. -- A mother’s pain won't go away after losing her son to gun violence. Mary Hunter struggles through her grief every day. The Richmond mom wants to remember her son Terrain as a family man who would go out of his way to help others.

But Hunter says she gets upset every time she sees activity on her deceased son’s Facebook page. It’s something she has been working to resolve. She wants to get the page removed by Facebook administrators but after nearly four months of trying, she hasn’t had any luck.

That’s why she contacted Problem Solvers, hoping we could get her concerns to fall on the right ears. Hunter knows there are billions of users on Facebook and she believes many others may find themselves in the same situation.

“I believe it should be an easier process in order to connect and get your message through. I did about three or four posts to them and although I’m not good at it, I did send messages to them,” Hunter explained.

Terrain Hunter

Last September the mom says her son was shot twice and passed away. Since then, she says she has gotten very emotional and upset seeing activity on his social media page.

“They shouldn’t have a problem with taking it down because after all, he’s not here. I don’t know his password, but they do and Facebook can close out his account and remove the page” Hunter said.

After months of trying, Hunter decided to call CBS 6 Problem Solvers to see if we could reach out to Facebook on her behalf. We contacted the press office twice and did get a reply that said someone would contact us with a response as soon as they could.

While waiting, we were able to find more information from Facebook’s online help center. If a person want to remove a deceased relative’s page, Facebook will need to confirm that you are an immediate family member.

You will need to provide a scan or photo of a death certificate. If you don’t have one, then you will need at least one of these items considered proof of authority. Those items include a will, power of attorney or a birth certificate.

Facebook would also need to see an obituary or memorial card. Once you have gathered all of the necessary documents, you can send Facebook a request.

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