Hi, my name is, Christopher Jackson, my wife’s name is, Rehannon, and we have a 17yr old daughter named, Abbie, who was 15 when this happened. We live in a small town called, Beulaville, NC. And I created this fundraiser for my family who is asking for help from the community. We’ve never done this before so please bear with us. This is the first time we have publicly told our story in detail. We’ve chosen to be very open and detailed in telling our story and journey - to try to help you understand the pain and heartache, we go through on a daily/nightly basis, and why we struggle to get through each day. We will each give our own story. If you would, I’d like to ask you just for a moment, as you are reading try imagining yourself as the mother or father, or even a sibling in this situation. Our story is long, but so is our journey. Thank you for your consideration, here is our story.

On 9/22/21, our son, Zachary was shot more than 7 times with an AR-15, and killed by a one-time friend. It happened after an altercation he had with this person, Zack was in the car trying to leave when this "friend" came out and began shooting at the passenger side door where Zachary sat. Zack's girlfriend was driving and when she was finally able to leave, she called his mother screaming, "Zack's been shot, momma - I am bringing him to you". 

Hi, my name is Rehannon, and I am Zachary's mother. You see, the closest hospital was about 13 miles away, and we live only a couple of miles from where the incident occurred, her thought process was I could get rescue to him at my house before she would be able to get him to the hospital. I called 911 and went outside to wait. They quickly pulled into my driveway, and the first thing I saw were the 9 bullet holes that were in the door and window where my baby sat. I frantically tried opening the door, but it wouldn’t open. Zack’s girlfriend had to reach across from him and open it from the inside. The door finally opened, and I saw my son laying there, head back against the headrest, mouth open. It is a sight that is burned in my mind, forever. Zack’s girlfriend and I pulled him out of the car. During the chaos that was happening Chris was called, he was away on a business trip unable to get home until the following day. Chris did his best to walk me through CPR, however, I honestly couldn't hear anything anyone was saying to me, my mind completely zoned into my son, I knew I had to save my baby, so I did chest compressions and breathed life into him. I replay the steps I took to save my son all of the time, it plays on a loop inside my head. I can still hear the whistle sound that came from Zack when I breathed into him. I can still feel the crackle under my hands while I was doing chest compressions. I knew he was gone when I first saw him in the car, but this momma bear was going to do everything in her power to save him - to bring him back to me. However, it was futile, he died in my arms. My hands were the first to touch him in life and the last to touch him in death. 

Zachary was 26 yrs old, and he has two daughters, Charlotte (6) and Skyla (1.5), however, Skyla turned 1 the day he was murdered, and he was told no, you can’t see your daughter on her 1st birthday - a milestone birthday. Could you imagine being told no, you can’t see your child on her 1st birthday? I can’t, my heart would be broken, and my heart did break for him. I spoke to Zack a couple of hours before he was killed, he was sad and upset, he just wanted to see his baby. The family was everything to Zack! Family was first and above all. Anyone who knew Zack knew how he felt for his babies. He was so amazing, and still is, I wish everyone could have known him. He was so generous, he would give you his last dollar if you needed it, and he’s done that on several occasions. He was my fixer, he would come to my house and fix whatever I needed to be done. And then, he would go grocery shopping in my house. LOL, He was so funny and witty! We had Friday night FaceTiming w him and his girlfriend (who he truly loved so much. He was her 1st true love and she was his last love) - We would be in tears laughing so hard! They acted like the oldest married couple I had ever seen. We told them they needed their own show!! They were hilarious together! He was the protector of all things he loved. Forget Abbie ever dating, there was a time when Abbie and this boy liked one another, and he went to IGA and saw this boy outside, and he made sure she wouldn’t be dating him! LOL Zachary was tough to figure out if you didn’t know him, he was very guarded, but his blue eyes told a story, they were the windows to his soul, and you can never hide who you truly are. That is what I believe. I’ve had so many people reach out to me to tell me their stories of Zack, and how he touched their lives. They were from here locally, to California, back to Jersey, and states in between. I was overwhelmed by the amount people he touched. I always knew how special he was, but to have all of these people reach out and confirm what I already knew, was so heartwarming and heartbreaking simultaneously. Now, he was no angel by any stretch of the imagination, but his heart and soul override the issues he struggled with. I could talk about my son all night and day, but I wanted to give you a chance to see who my son was and how important he is to so many people! He mattered! He mattered to a lot of people, and that has been stolen, not only from us but from everyone he was to meet along the way. 

I wanted to introduce myself and tell you about that day from me, his mother, and what it has been ever since. My heart has been shattered into a million pieces. How does a mother live when her child has been killed? I pray no mother has to see what I have seen or do the things I had to do to save her child. Losing a child is horrible, losing a child at the hands of another is on a whole different level. I have one foot here on earth and the other stands in Heaven. Time stands still - yet flying by. It’s been 20 long months since I have heard Zachary say, “I love you, momma”, or felt his arms around me giving the biggest hug. I kiss his picture and put it under my pillow every day and every night in hopes he will visit me in my dreams. Maybe one day he will. I just keep praying he will. Never in my wildest dreams did I think this would happen in our small town. I no longer say ‘never’, hold your babies tight, kiss and hug them just a little more. We are living proof, if it can happen in a town of 1,000 people - it can and will happen anywhere. 

Hi, my name is Abbie, and this is my part of our story. I received a text from my brother earlier that day, he told me how he wanted to come over and chill, and how horrible of a day he’d had (if you knew my brother you knew he never opened up, he never talked about how he felt, so i knew it was bad, later I found out he wasn’t allowed to see Skyla). I told him how I had tutoring in less than 30 minutes, but after we could chill. Well, we never did get to chill that day. My tutoring session ended at 4:15 PM, I walked out and saw my mom wasn’t sitting outside like usual, so i called her, she sounded panicked but wouldn’t tell me what was wrong. She told me, I will be right there. She was there within mins, I got in the car pleading with her to tell me what was wrong, so she pulled over and had me step out, she held my hands and proceeded to tell me the worst news I will ever hear, “Abbie, Zack’s been shot.. he didn’t make it”, I laughed! I seriously laughed in her face, because in what world did this boy get shot?? Not in mine I’ll tell you that much, but sadly, it was mine. We got back in the car in total disbelief. I begged her to drive faster, I remember being behind this car, it felt like it was going in slow motion, everything was in slow motion, we turned in, and there were 10+ cars, Beulaville police, Duplin Deputies, SBI. ambulance, and random people wanting to get in drama that didn’t pertain to them, I mean, I get people being nosy but.. common now. My mom stopped and got out, I tried to but she told me no. She tried to overed my eyes so I couldn’t see him lying there in the driveway, but I could still see. All I could do was stare, stare at the sheet that was hiding my brothers lifeless bloody body, everything in me wanted to get out, wanted to beg my brother to wake up, that I know I’ve been moody lately, that I was sorry, and that I would never do anything I shouldn’t do again! I sat there, frozen in place, sobbing and unable to move. Mom drove me straight to our neighbors, I could barely stand, our neighbor and friends helped me inside. This all felt like a dream, like something from a horrific nightmare! I called my best friend, unable to properly tell her what had just happened, other than, “so Zack was shot.. he’s dead”, needless to say she didn’t believe me until she saw the yellow crime scene tape up everywhere. I went over to her house, unable to cry another tear. We talked about what happened. All I felt was this consuming anger, I knew who did it, I wasn’t sure why, but one could imagine. Later that night, I came home, his body was gone, like it had never happened! But then, I saw my mom sitting at the dining room table in shambles, people surrounding her, I was so numb, I had no idea how to comfort her or the others sitting in my house crying, days and sleepless nights passed. I missed over a month of school. I felt this weight on my chest 24/7. I still do. I quit my job, i felt lost, confused, angry, guilty. I tried to move on, but I couldn’t. The funeral was one of the worst nights, country music playing, and so many people that I hadn't a clue who they were! They were all of the people who loved my brother! To see the amount of people was just so overwhelming! I had no clue it would be like that. I continued to try and move on with no success. So, I did the next best thing, or so I thought, I just stuffed it away, it was just too painful, and I just couldn’t handle it anymore. I kept stuffing and stuffing my feelings until one night it was too much to bear, that was the night I tried to take my own life. I just wanted to be with my brubby, I wanted the pain and agony to stop, so I walked right out in front of this beautiful black mustang, without even a second thought, but of course, he stopped. I’m sure he thought i was crazy. BUT, it was also the last time I tried to take my life. Mom, dad, and I all made a promise to each other, as a family, that we wouldn’t ever leave one another, ever. A promise that we will get through both individually and as a family. I had no idea what to do, then, and still don’t. I feel as though I’ve lost myself, like I was floating in the ocean for weeks, and now months, tired, confused, weak, with no sign of help for miles. I have lost myself, and with each passing day I watch my parents become a shell of who they once were. I’ve been in therapy since the first month, it doesn’t really help me. I will keep fighting, I will never give up trying. If you have read this, then I thank you for listening. ~Abbie

There is so much trauma within all of us, his sister lost her best friend, his mother lost her baby, and I lost my only son. The depression and anxiety continue to grow. The PTSD is horrible. I never knew it could ever be like this. We hardly leave our house anymore, we only leave to run to the store to pick up groceries, since that day our lives were flipped upside down. The depression is deep and dark. My daughter lives in constant fear. We lost our baby, and the feelings are indescribable, there is no more laughter, and there is no more joy. There’s fear, sadness, anger, sorrow, and emptiness. There has been therapy and medications, but nothing seems to help, not yet anyway. It takes everything we have just to get out of bed, and there are days we don't. He took that away from us. The person who shot him had been in custody until February '23, when he was granted a $500,000 bond. We hoped and prayed he wouldn't be able to make it, however, 10 days later he was released. He lives just a few miles away from us. Now we leave the house even less. Many of us have seen in town, it’s not a good feeling. Rehannon and Abbie are the only ones who haven’t seen him. What would happen if one of them became face to face with the person who brutally murdered Zachary? I don't know. We can't think about anything else - we are stuck in that moment. To go out and work just isn't possible - we've tried. We’re in direct-to-customer sales. To go into someone’s home and be positive and happy, like the world is all sunshine and rainbows when our world is dark and life-shattering has proven to be harder than we expected. We were unable to put on that mask, though we’ve tried numerous times. We lost our successful business summer of '22, we've gone through all of our savings, we've borrowed money from friends and family, we've maxed out all of our credit cards, unable to make any payments. Rehannon can't work, she is battling with an autoimmune disease, and stress is a trigger. I am so afraid to leave them alone, with him being so close to us I just can't leave them alone. I wasn't here when it happened, and I live with guilt - if I was here I would have been able to save him. Those are things that are running through my head 24/7, I just can't get myself to leave my house. I have tried forcing myself, but then I realized - you can't force anything when it comes to losing a child in the worst way possible! Some parents can push forward and do what they need to do. But we haven’t been able to do that. I know it's difficult to understand or to imagine yourself in this situation and what you would do, but I'm sorry, it's impossible to understand the pain and torture we live in every day - all day. It's the very first thing we think of when we open our eyes and the last thing we think of when we close our eyes at night. I am being as raw as can be, I am 62 years old, and I have never felt like this in my entire life. I am also a police officer, calls would come in about shots fired, another murder occurred, and I would go into sheer panic. It is frustrating as a police officer, knowing this person is out-free doing whatever he wants, knowing if he was in danger, I would have to protect him because that is the oath I proudly swore to. Then I say to myself, I am a police officer who couldn't save my own son. It just came to a point where I can no longer do this. I have lost all of my faith in the justice system - to let this person out - who intentionally killed my son and almost killed 2 other people - knowing we live in the same tiny town, where he lives 1 mile from us now, and we will cross paths with him, eventually. He is sitting with a mountain of violent felony charges, and he was given a bond. The pain and anxiety is more than I can handle. I had to leave the police force. I have worked hard my entire life, then this happened, and part of us died that day. We are at our lowest point right now. I am unable to provide for my family, and that hurts to say, but this is my reality now. We are on the verge of losing everything. There’s a sense of shame that comes with this fundraiser, but then I remembered, it takes a village. This has made us much more humble. I never imagined ever having to do this, but here we are, and I am asking for your help, please.

The monies we receive will be going to our everyday/monthly living expenses and household bills, i.e. water, electricity, medications, therapy specifically EMDR, which is an intensive trauma therapy technique, food, mortgage, car payments, household items, etc., and any unexpected emergencies that may occur. We’d love to have a little piece of mind knowing everything can be paid and not wonder if today is the day our electricity will be shut off. That day is right around the corner for us. The everyday stresses and worries. We want to be able to grieve for our son healthily, and we also need to prepare ourselves for the trial. That in and of itself is hard work. To learn how to live when your child is no longer here. I am hopeful this can be done, though. I know we can get through this and we can thrive again - it just takes time. How long? I don’t know, as long as it takes, I suppose. I know that's what Zachary wants for us. We haven’t been doing that. We have to learn it all over again. It is difficult to do these things when you are worried about how you're going to pay this bill or that bill. We want to be able to breathe even if it's just for a little while. Please know, we may be in a dark place at the moment, but this is not where we will stay. We will  live life to fullest again. Losing our son has taught us just how precious life is. We will honor our son by living life to the fullest. Behind all of the storms and dark clouds lies the sunshine and rainbows. We will get to a place where the happiness and joy washes over us. We have faith and hope in our ability to heal, together as a family and with the help from friends and family. We just aren’t there yet, in time and with hard work we will come back from this, and we will shine!

Would you please consider helping us? If you are unable to financially help us, would you please share our story? That would help us out a lot. We are grateful for any help we receive. You can also Venmo us @Rehannon-Jackson or Cash App $CRJackson380 

Thank you for taking the time to read our story - if you are someone who prays, can I ask you to pray for us, please?

The Jackson Family