‘There’s nothing like your mom’: Family of fatal shooting victim speak out

MEMPHIS, Tenn. — Police identified a mother of two killed while driving her children as 33-year-old, Vanity Macklin. Officers said Macklin was shot by another driver which caused her to hit a pole at Milbranch and Raines Road in Whitehaven. Investigators said her sons, ages 10 and 12, were in the vehicle when the incident happened.

“And she (children’s grandmother) said, ‘your sister has been shot. They shot my baby.’ All I could do is like, ‘Mom, I’m in Dallas. Like, I can’t get there right now,’ said Venetra Macklin, the sister of the woman who died.

Officers said the shooter kept driving and has not been located.

The family said the 12-year-old was riding in the backseat and the 10-year-old was in the front seat. The children’s aunt said her sister heard the first shot and wondered from where the shot came. The sister further explained a second shot was fired and hit her sister in the head.

She continued and said her nephew saw blood coming from his mother’s eye. The 10-year-old then unbuckled his mother’s seatbelt at which point the aunt said the mother leaned onto him. The sister said her 12-year-old nephew then got out and ran to a nearby store for help.

“You know, them seeing their mom in that condition … it’s never good for anyone and especially at that age. Having the type of mom that provided them with the life that they had, they have, it’s just hard, you know, like, where do we go from here? … Although they have a lot of support (there’s) nothing like … your mom,” said the aunt.

Jared Brown is a licensed counselor in Memphis and said it is important to get therapy for children directly after they experience trauma.

It’s important for kids to receive therapy after a traumatic event because as resilient as kids are those things come back later in life and really present when they’re an adult,” said Davis.

He said therapists work to get children to talk about their experiences.

“Depending on the age of the child there are things like play therapy when you have extremely young kids who have experienced trauma … The counseling environment is the perfect place to create that safe space for them to be able to open up and really share.” He adds.

Anyone with information concerning this case can anonymously call Crime Stoppers at (901)528-CASH.

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