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Mom Of Fatal Shooting Victim: "I Can't Hate The Suspects"

Posted at 4:40 PM, May 30, 2017
and last updated 2017-05-30 20:16:59-04

The mother of a teenager murdered in a car at an apartment complex in Madison four months ago expressed her decision to not hate the suspects.

"God won't let me," Gwendolyn "MeMe" Dillard told NewsChannel 5. "If I hate them then it's going to be on my soul, so I can't hate them."

Her son, 18-year-old Javonte Robinson, was shot and killed in a car parked outside Nashwood Park Apartments the afternoon of January 28. 

Officials with the Metro Nashville Police Department said one of the passengers got out and walked toward the breezeway. Two people approached the car and fired into the vehicle. 

"I've been fighting quite a bit of depression because of this. I go to counseling once a week now," Dillard said. "I miss him and I knew he wanted to make something out of his life."

His friend, Roy Hunter, was critically injured but survived. Roy is the 20-year-old son of Metro Nashville Public Schools Board Member Tyese Hunter. 

Terrence Rainey, Byron Berkley and Jevon Wilson have all been arrested and charged with murder. They are being held at the Davidson County Juvenile Detention Center before their transfer hearing in late July. 

Even though Dillard said she chooses not to hate them, forgiving is a tougher decision to make.

"I would like to say I have but that's something me and God still have to deal with," Dillard added.

Last week, Tyese Hunter held a press conference asking for Berkley's bond to be revoked.

Berkley was the only suspect to request a bond hearing. 

Judge Sheila Calloway set Berkley's bond at $200,000. 

In a statement to NewsChannel 5, the court administrator said: Tennessee law clearly establishes the factors to be considered in setting a bond. See Tenn. Code Ann. § 40-11-118, attached (“Bail shall be set as low as the court determines is necessary to reasonably assure the appearance of the defendant as required.”).

Dillard would also like to see all suspects remain in custody. 

"I ask them to keep him in there too because if he was grown enough to shoot somebody like he did. what's going to stop them from doing it again?" she questioned. 

Dillard adopted Javonte four years ago when he was 14 years old. She described it as one of the best decisions of her life.

She said Javonte loved to to be an athlete and played football, soccer and wrestling at Pearl-Cohn High School before he graduated in 2016. 

He was attending Western Kentucky University. 

According to the court administrator, a transfer hearing will be held on July 27, 2017 to determine if the case will remain in Juvenile Court or be transferred to the adult criminal justice system. 

"They need to realize they took a life and destroyed another child's hopes and dreams," she said.