On Monday, December 15, 2025, Donovan Joshua Leigh Metayer, 26, lost his life to suicide after a years-long battle with schizophrenia.

The loss of our family’s youngest child is a sorrow beyond words—one that will echo through our lives, forever. Yet even in our grief, we are choosing to speak Donovan’s truth, so that other families do not have to suffer in silence the way we have.

The baby of the Metayer family, “Donny” as he was affectionately called, was a radiant child. Brilliant and curious, he always excelled academically, with an intellect matched only by a magnetic humor and warmth that could light up any room, effortlessly.

But, beneath that light, Donny carried unimaginable sorrow.

A graduate of Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, his senior year was marked by the Parkland shooting, one of the most devastating acts of gun violence in our nation’s history. The trauma of that day and the loss of classmates lingered long after graduation and profoundly altered the course of his life.

In the months that followed, Donny began to withdraw. Depression, guilt, emotional instability, and long periods of isolation replaced the vibrant young man we once knew.

Though he had dreamt of college and a future in computer science, his worsening mental health made those dreams difficult to reach.

Over the years that followed, he would be hospitalized multiple times for suicidal ideation. Like so many young people, he struggled to accept a mental health diagnosis.

Treatment—therapy, medication, and constant adjustments—was a journey marked by exhaustion. Donny often masked his pain to not burden those he loved, even as our family fought alongside him. Finding care through limited resources, systemic barriers, and the realities of navigating mental health crises as a young Black man made his path all the more steep.

A mental health episode in 2021 would result in Donny being Baker-acted, and he was temporarily barred from purchasing a firearm.

Shortly after, the Henderson Clinic and a private psychiatrist became a lifeline, offering guidance, compassion, and hope for his future. With their support, Donny began to heal, earning an IT certificate and joining the team at Office Depot in Coral Springs, where he was quickly promoted. After years of challenges, he was beginning to carve out a sense of independence and a future he could believe in. His progress was a source of immense pride for our family.

But earlier this month, upon learning that his Risk Protection Order had lapsed, Donny purchased a handgun at a local gun shop. A week later, he would use that same handgun to take his own life in our family home.

Donny’s passing is a heartbreaking reminder of the mental health crisis plaguing our youth and the lasting trauma of gun violence on our community.

As we grieve his loss, we are breaking the code of silence in his memory.

Though Donny’s life was brief, his impact will be everlasting.

In his honor, we are soliciting funds to assist our family with the celebration of life services and to endow a fund at the Henderson Clinic that will provide healthcare, housing, and hope for people of all ages with behavioral health conditions throughout Florida.