‘Put the guns down.’ Columbus mom pleads with community after 12-year-old son killed
When speaking about her late son Cortez Richardson, Tiffany Richardson smiled as she shared stories about the child who loved his brothers, playing video games and Air Jordan sneakers, most of all.
He was quiet and kept to himself, she said. But around his family, he loved cracking jokes and making everyone smile.
Cortez, 12, had just completed his first week of 8th grade at East Columbus Magnet Academy when he was gunned down at the intersection of Luna and Armenda drives in east Columbus Aug. 13. He was transported to Piedmont Columbus Regional where he died at 11:51 p.m.
The incident marked the 43rd homicide of the year for Columbus. Cortez would have turned 13 on Aug. 29.
As she prepares to lay her child to rest Saturday, Richardson is pleading with the community to remember that Cortez was an innocent bystander caught in the crossfire of a rising gun violence issue in Columbus.
Growing up together
When Cortez was born in 2008, Tiffany was only 17. Despite the challenges, she told the Ledger-Enquirer that having Cortez taught her strength she didn’t know she had.
“I was a teen mom and still a child myself,” she said. “Having Cortez taught me a love I have never known and he also taught me how to be strong ... going to school all day then coming home and having to be a mother was tough, but I got it done for him.”
They grew up together, she added.
When she had five more children, Cortez acted as a role model and lead for his brothers.
“He really played a role as caregiver and big brother around the house. He would help me with making bottles, feeding and making sure everyone was in order,” Richardson said.
When Cortez wasn’t talking to his closest brother, Shaun Jr., you could find him confiding in his grandmother, Dianne Richardson. Cortez was “her mother’s baby,” Richardson said with a laugh.
“I would get a little jealous because he was telling her things about his life before he was telling me,” she said. “I was his mother but he was my mom’s baby. She was there with me while I carried him and helped me raise him so they were always very close.”
The last photo
Cortez woke up the weekend before his first day of 8th grade ready to get a fresh haircut. Richardson said he was excited to have one more year with brother Shaun Jr. before heading off to high school.
“He was so excited for school this year,” she said. “When we went to get haircuts, he was cracking jokes and dancing. It was a such a good day, just seeing my boys happy and happy to be together.”
On Monday, Richardson gathered all the children together for first-day family photos, a tradition in her household.
She lined the school-aged kids up, one by one, to take their photos for their picture wall in the living room of their Torch Hill Drive home. Cortez, in his favorite orange and white Air Jordan high-top 1s, smiled as he headed off to start his 8th grade year.
It was the last photo she would ever take of Cortez. And five days later, it was the photo that circulated on social media as people learned of his death.
‘A stray bullet’
It was Friday, Aug. 13 and Richardson was preparing for a weekend vacation. Her partner, Shaun, was returning home from his trucking route and the couple, plus her mother, planned to take the kids down to Jacksonville, Florida, for a few days of relaxation.
Richardson had taken some time off work to prepare, heading to Peachtree Mall while the kids were in school to pick up clothes and shoes for them. When they returned home from school that day, she swung by the house to pick them up before continuing her day of errands.
All six kids and their grandmother, Dianne, came with her.
After running more errands and enjoying a meal together at Longhorn’s Steakhouse, the group got in the car to go home.
Richardson said she had planned to take a longer route from north Columbus to their east Columbus home, but decided just to take the normal path.
“I was actually going to go down J.R. Allen Parkway to Buena Vista Road,” she said. “But, last minute, I changed my mind and went down Macon Road to Forrest Road.”
As they approached the intersection of Luna and Armenda drives, Richardson said she heard gunshots and tried to maneuver her car out of the crossfire.
“As soon as I think I’m clear, that’s when I hear my baby, ‘Mom, pull over, I’m hit,’” she said.
Cortez, who was asleep in the backseat, was gasping for air.
“It was truly a blur,” Tiffany said. “It was like one moment I’m driving my family home, then I’m on the side of the road watching blood gurgle out my son’s mouth as his chest began to fill.”
When police and EMS arrived to transport Cortez to the hospital, Tiffany said her son looked at her and her mother before passing on.
“He looked me in my eyes and I could see the light fade,” she said. “That’s when I knew and it became real. My baby is dead ... gone from a stray bullet that he didn’t deserve.”
‘Put the guns down’
No arrests has been made in the case. While doubtful that anyone will come forward, Richardson said she knows the path to justice will be long and that she trusts the Columbus Police Department will get the job done. Cpl. Robert Nicholas is working with the family on the case.
“I want everyone to think about what if this was your child or what if you were Cortez,” she said. “When these people shoot these guns, they forget about all the innocent people caught in between. We were those people, caught in between something that I could have never seen coming. Put the guns down ... if not for yourself, for the kids.”
Wanting people to see the hurt and anguish that gun violence brings to families is what prompted Richardson to open up her home to the public as her family hosted a vigil on Sunday, she said.
“When I left my son, I was numb and didn’t know what to do. I’m still numb, so I want to tell the community to hold onto your kids, tell your kids you love them everyday because you never know,” Richardson said.
Cortez’s funeral will be held at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Hill-Watson Funeral Home Chapel, 1605 Third Avenue, in Columbus.
“I will never forget my baby, he will forever be 12,” she said. “It’s a burden I will carry for the rest of my life and I pray that God can bring to peace to my family by bringing whoever is responsible forward. Cortez cannot rest and I’m hoping someone will say what they know.”
This story was originally published August 21, 2021 at 7:00 AM.
