KANSAS CITY, Kan. — The family of Brian "BJ" Henderson, who was killed two years ago, says they know exactly how loved ones of Sir'Antonio Brown are feeling after the 6-year-old was shot and killed Wednesday night in Kansas City, Kansas.
"I started crying immediately. I started crying, it broke my heart," said Monica Henderson, mother of BJ. "Six years old. BJ was 12, and it still wasn't enough time."
Monica says BJ was her world.
"A bullet went through his heart, as big as his heart was," she said.
When she last heard from her son, he was off to Walmart with his sister. But he never came home.
"I couldn't wrap my brain around it … my son? Who would shoot my son? What did my son do?" Monica Henderson said.
The man convicted of the murder of BJ fired several shots while the 12-year-old was in the backseat of a vehicle.
"Even when we were going through the court systems, we stood in front of the judge and asked him not to give him life because he never had a chance. First step in the foundation to save a life," said Brian Henderson, BJ's father.
Because in most cases, Monica and Brian say it never has to get to this point.
"When you get to the bottom of why someone would shoot, it's something minute that could be handled with a conversation," Monica Henderson said.
In an effort to make a change in their community, the Hendersons are providing a "Heart Line" in BJ's honor via the Brian Derek Henderson Foundation.
"They can call and say, 'I miss my friend. My grandmother's in the hospital. I'm scared she isn't gonna make it … If I see Michael Jackson tomorrow, I'm gonna beat him, I'm gonna kill him.' ... So you can have someone talk you through that moment," Monica Henderson said.
Specifically for families like Sir's, the Hendersons say they understand processing and grieving is a "long road."
"We're two years in, and not one day has been easier than the other," Brian Henderson said.
The Heart Line is geared specifically toward children and is available 24/7. Anyone answering the line has mental health and first-responder training.
To reach the Heart Line, call 844-442-8776.
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