RICHMOND, Va. -- A Richmond mom is fighting for justice after her son was shot and killed last August. She said she's frustrated with how police are handling her son's case.
It’s happened 68 times so far this year, after it happened 66 times in total last year: a knock at the door, with Richmond officers delivering bad news that a loved one was killed in the city.
"It was raining and my son was coming into his apartment and someone shot him multiple times,” said Lavon Whitlow. “He took him away from me. He was only 20 years old."
Whitlow is a mom on a mission.
"I just want justice. I don't want to see another black kid on the street dead,” said Whitlow. “I don't want to see none of that! I want to see him to wake up day and night and to be punished for what he's done."
Whitlow claims she has provided detectives vital information but is frustrated that there are still no arrests in her son’s murder case.
Crime Insider sources tell CBS6 the motive for Jamarea's murder was most likely a robbery set up.
“I'm gonna fight for him, day, night, whatever, to get justice for him,” Whitlow said. “I'm sorry it's what moms do. I’m gonna be that way."
Detectives have been retiring, others have been leaving the department, still others have bouncing back and forth between patrol and detective duties.
Police Chief Gerald Smith pleads for patience, saying his major crimes detectives’ plates are overflowing.
"Our homicide detectives are incredible,” said Smith. “Even though homicides are up I believe, 19%, in all actuality they are doing a phenomenal job. Their clearance rate is above the national average so I see it's frustrating. But what's also frustrating is we need officers to not only investigate homicides but to take on initiatives and projects to prevent them from happening."
Whitlow understands that her son’s case is one of many that remain unsolved, she just wants to make sure ‘forgotten’ is not part of the equation.
"I hope this lights a fire for them to go back and look at this case from the beginning, from scratch,” Whitlow said. “Maybe you forgot something or you was overwhelmed with work. But I need you to look at this case as if it was just yesterday."
Tragically, Lavon Whitlow is all too familiar with grief. Just six days before her son’s killing, her husband was shot to death outside a Shockoe Bottom gas station.
