A 6-year-old St. Louis boy, Jeffrey Laney has gone viral on Facebook after posting an emotional anti-gun violence plea.
“People need to stop killing each other because this is just making me feel bad,” Laney said in a video clip posted by his mother last week. Since then, it has reached more than 160K people and been shared more than 6K times.
According to Laney’s mother, Leanndra Cheatham, the message likely stems from her son watching her struggle to deal with the death of her cousin Taylor Simpson, 17, who was killed in a drive-by shooting last month in University City, Missouri, the St. Louis Post Dispatch reports.
“He listens to everything around him and watches the news, and there’s not a lot of good things on there,” she said.
“I don’t want nothing to happen to all my family, and I’m really serious because I’m really scared to die and I’m really scared for my family to die,” Jeffrey said in the clip.
“I’m not supposed to know about all these guns,” the kindergartner continued. “I know about all bad stuff. I’m supposed to be learning about school.”
“People need to stop killing each other,” added Laney. “We are supposed to be happy and loving each other.”
Cheatham, 28, works at the St. Louis Justice Center taking inventory of prisoner possessions and other data entry.
“I remind him every day that that is the one place he don’t want to be and that there are a lot of bad people out there,” Cheatham said.
Upon sharing the clip on Facebook, Cheatham admitted her son’s words keep her awake at night.
“I can’t do nothing but look at him and hurt because he feels that way!!” she wrote. “God, he is supposed to be enjoying this stage.”
In fact, even while taping, Cheatham said she cut the video short so viewers wouldn’t hear her cry in the background. “I was hurt,” she said, “but proud.”
Laney ended his powerful plea with a hopeful note. “God is my weapon,” he concluded. “God is going to make sure I’m safe.”
See the video below.
https://youtu.be/X4EEHQHXUko
