PORTSMOUTH, Va. — Portsmouth mother Rena Woodell is grief-stricken and angry after her son, 40-year-old Robert James Mallory, was killed just off of Frederick Boulevard and High Street Friday afternoon.
Sunday Woodell told News 3 about her son who she calls Bobby.
"Do you have any special memories of Bobby?" News 3 reporter Erika Craven asked Woodell.
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"Oh I have so many of them," said Woodell as she shared stories and photos from Bobby's childhood. "He was a mama's boy and he was proud of it. He'd stand up and tell you about it too. See, if you see all these pictures, you see where he's always smiling. Oh, he was always smiling in his pictures."
She also shared her pain as she walked along the sidewalk near where the shooting took place.
"You can see my son's blood," Woodell pointed and shook her head. "It's something that should never have happened."
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To her understanding, her son had been walking along the road and exchanged words with someone in a car before he was shot. At this time, we don't know whether Bobby and the shooter knew each other.
Now, Woodell's left with a mother's grief and is helping some of Bobby's six kids cope with the loss.
"He was loved. His babies, they're two and three years old. The three year old, she says, Daddy, come home, take me to the park," said Woodell. "I have to tell her, daddy's not coming back. I don't — it just rips my heart out. I had to tell her he's with Jesus, and she doesn't understand that concept yet."
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Hours after the shooting, police arrested 26-year-old Javonte Gray. He's facing a second degree murder charge, a shooting from a vehicle charge, a gun charge of violent felon with a firearm, and several other charges. Gray's being held at the Portsmouth City Jail without bond.
"When you pick up a weapon and you have time enough to drop that weapon and not use it, but you decide anyhow, take somebody's life . . . that's cold blooded, in my opinion," said Woodell as she explained why she thought the shooting was preventable.
"Anger, I have anger. I have a lot of hate. I'm a strong, faithful woman. And I'm mad now at the Lord for this is too, but he's going to have my back. God's going to have my back. He's going to see to it. Justice is going to be served," said Woodell.
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She hopes she'll find a way forward in forgiveness and she said she'll never stop seeking justice with Bobby in her heart.
"Yeah, Bobby was something," sighed Woodell.
