SUMTER COUNTY, S.C. — Lavandia "Pam" Wilson said the pain she feels is difficult to describe after her son, Gregory "Donta" Middleton was killed in a shooting over the weekend.
"I don't want no mother to go through the pain I'm going through right now," Wilson said. "My world went to an end... it went to an end when I lose my, one of my precious, precious, my precious baby."
Middleton was with his cousin Michael Rogers when a shooting started Sunday at the Sunoco gas station on Broad Street in Sumter. Both men were killed.
Wilson spent part of her day surrounded by family, remembering the good times when her son was alive.
"My son was like my brother, my sister, my friend," she said. "It hurts."
She says he was loving and kind with a good heart. He graduated from Sumter High School where he played basketball and football and loved his family.
Michael Rogers also attended Sumter High. His mother Loutricia Hilton says he was funny and loving and his death has left "in pieces."
"All I can say is this black-on-black crime needs to stop. It need to stop," Hilton said.
Wilson agreed adding that the violence is causing too many families to get hurt.
"Too many things is going on; life is getting short for everybody. Stop trying to take each other out," Wilson said. "My baby birthday coming up (and) my boy ain't gone be here to celebrate none of that, so let me tell y'all one thing, y'all better wake up, 'cause God is coming back."
Sumter police believe the shooting is connected to rival gang violence.
Anyone with information about this incident is asked to call the Sumter Police Department at (803) 436-2700 or CrimeStoppers at 1-888-CRIME-SC.