PORTLAND, Ore. — To most people, Southeast 122nd Avenue and Southeast Division Street is little more than a busy intersection. To the family of Geavauntae Sherman, it is a painful reminder of a tragic loss.
"Honestly I'm really numb," said Alydia Nacoste. "I can't feel right now. It's hurtful."
Nacoste's son, the 22-year-old Geavauntae, took his last breath near 122nd and Division late Monday night.
Minutes before his death, Geavauntae and his family were celebrating a birthday at nearby Raymond Park. Family members told KGW that there was another large group at the park, and the two groups got into an argument over a swing. Sherman stepped in to calm everyone down.
"He simply said, 'We're all adults, why are we yelling and cussing,' and one of their members walked up and shot my brother," Dayshanay Sherman said.
After the shooting, Dayshanay said they were unable to get through to 911, so they loaded Geavauntae into a car and raced for the hospital. They spotted a police cruiser at 122nd and Division.
"I swerved in front of the police to make them stop, and when they stopped they got out and they took my son out of the vehicle and checked his pulse and said it was too late," Nacoste said.
Nacoste wishes police could have done more to keep her son from becoming yet another victim of gun violence in Portland.
"He was a protector," Dayshanay said. "He died just coming over to de-escalate the situation because he saw how the group was reacting towards me and his younger sister."
Dayshanay described Geavauntae as joyful and always good for a laugh. She said he was the glue that kept the family together.
"He loved his family," Dayshanay said. "He loved his girlfriend. His family and the people he loved was the only thing that mattered to him."
His family counts that love among the many reasons they hope police can track down and arrest the shooter.
"I'd like this person who killed my son for no reason to be brought to justice," Nacoste said.
Anyone with information about this case is urged to contact the Portland Police Bureau.
Friends of the family have launched two GoFundMe campaigns to help with expenses in the wake of Geavauntae's death. One can be found here and the other here.