CHESAPEAKE, Va. — John McLean is no stranger to tragic deaths among young people in the Hampton Roads community. He lost his son, Elijah, at the age of 18 when he was shot and killed in a car in Newport News.
Elijah's younger brother, Tavis McLean, turned 19 this year, just one year older than when his brother passed.
Now, Tavis became a victim of gun violence once again. Chesapeake police say the 19-year-old was found shot and killed inside a car after he crashed near the intersection of Indian River Road and Oaklette Drive.
John McLean says he felt like he had a small window into his son's life leading up to this point and now wants answers in his death.
"I'm devastated...he was a good kid. I don't know his track record and stuff," said McLean as he stood at the corner by Indian River Rd. "To me, he was a good kid and he was doing nothing wrong, but you never know what a kid was doing. You don't know who their friends are sometimes."
McLean says he is trying to work with the police department to find more answers. He says he is tired of getting phone calls about his own children in this violence.
"Parents, just...wrap your hands around your kids before they leave the house and tell them you love them because you never know if they are going to come back through that door at the end of the day or not," McLean said.
It's the same violence the neighborhood along Sloop Trail in Chesapeake experienced just hours earlier on Saturday morning. Balloons sit outside the home where police say someone broke in and killed 23-year-old Jermaine Leslie Jr.
Neighbors who knew Leslie say this is becoming too common in the neighborhood.
"These kids...don't know what's going on with kids these days," said his neighbor, Darron Mabry.
Mabry said he didn't know of Leslie getting involved in gun violence, saying, "He was just chill. He didn't bother nobody. He was just a happy-go-lucky person like the rest of these kids try to be."
Chesapeake police say this weekend's gun violence marked 22 shootings in the city this year, compared to 16 shootings this time last year. Detectives say they are currently investigating both shootings.