A mother, Candace Pickens, by all reports was a good mother to her son, Zachaeus.
Sadly, it seems she may have just been killed for refusing to abort another child, according to the Washington Post.
“When she found out she was pregnant, she was scared at first,” the 23-year-old’s aunt, Irene Jenny Pickens, told The Washington Post. “But once she had that baby, it was so natural for her.
“She loved being a mother. And no matter what she was going through, I think he was the one thing that kept her going.”
One of the things Candace Pickens was going through in recent months, relatives said, was a volatile and abusive relationship — one she managed to keep hidden from some of the people who knew her best in and around Asheville, N.C., where she lived.
Her boyfriend, Nathaniel Elijah Dixon, had a violent history that included attempted robbery and allegations of domestic violence against another woman with whom he had a child, according to the Citizen-Times. In addition to Dixon’s extensive criminal history, police think he has possible ties to a Los Angeles street gang.
When Pickens recently discovered that she was pregnant with Dixon’s child, abortion was not an option, she told friends and family members.
She would have a second child, she insisted.
Now, relatives think it was that insistence that may have led to her death.
Her body was found early on the morning of May 12 by a jogger in a park in Asheville. She had been shot in the head at point-blank range, police said — executed.
Beside her, investigators said, was Zachaeus, badly injured but clinging to life.
Just one day after his birthday, the 3-year-old had witnessed his mother being shot in the face before he endured the same fate and was left for dead.
Pickens was declared dead at the scene. Her son was taken to a hospital, where he underwent emergency surgery; he is in stable but critical condition, police said.
Mekia Waters, the child’s grandmother, told The Post that Zachaeus was shot in the head and did lose his left eye, but she forcefully denied local reports that he has a 50 percent chance of survival.
“My grandson is in stable condition and doing great and he has the doctors surprised,” she said. “He’s moving his arms and legs and he’s doing more than what people expected.”
“He’s talking, he asked for juice and he said ‘daddy,’” she added. “He even made his own song up about juice.”
Waters also said her family members have not set up a GoFundMe page and have not been contacted by the creators of several existing pages that claim to be raising money for her grandson.
“My grandson is not a charity fund,” she said. “We’re not asking for a dime — only prayer.”
My prayers go out to this family. What a tragedy.
This, of course, will not be talked about in the media the way it would be if a pro-lifer committed a violent act. The president won’t have anything to say about it either. Thanks to the Washington Post for running the story. Notice that they called the unborn baby a “child” in the story. How did that get past the editors?
Keep Zachaeus in your prayers.
