MILWAUKEE — Crime statistics from the Milwaukee Police Department showed homicides are down 20% this year compared to 2022.
However, gun violence is still an issue impacting families in the city and across the state.
Despite the pain of losing her son, one Milwaukee mother said she is hoping to advocate for others while spreading hope.
Tristacia Patrick-Yarbrough is sticking close to her loved ones. She said her family is her biggest support system as she navigates the new pain and grief of losing her son.
“Where I’m standing right now is where I held my son when he took his last breath,” she said.
Her son Cory Crosby was shot and killed in 2022. Patrick-Yarbrough said he lost his life on the front steps of her mother’s Milwaukee home.
“My son was an electrician, an artist, a man of God, a mentor and an awesome father,” said Patrick-Yarbrough.
Patrick-Yarbrough said she and Crosby started a nonprofit together called “All About Increase.” Its goal is to empower and educate youth in the city.
“Everything I do is a ministry and is to build legacy for Cory and for my grandbaby,” she said.
Patrick-Yarbrough said the day after her son was killed, she found a note on the steps that had been in Crosby’s pocket. It was a note she had written for him with their nonprofit mission written on it.
“It’s God’s calling that I’m here and I have to keep empowering our youth and keep talking to our youth about these lifetime life skills,” she said.
She said despite the heartache, she has a lifelong piece of Crosby with her forever: Her grandson Cayden.
“It’s like a remake of my son,” she said. “When I’m weak, he makes me strong.”
Cayden loves to create art. It’s a sKIll Patrick-Yarbrough said Cayden and Crosby share.
“I use Sharpies, markers, color pencils and crayons,” said Cayden.
When Cayden thinks of the memories he shared with his dad, he remembers him as funny and caring.
Patrick-Yarbrough carries memories of her son everywhere she goes.
In her office at work, she has Crosby’s artwork hanging on her walls.
She said there are little reminders of him everywhere she turns, like in a box of encouraging notes she keeps at her desk.
“If I get discouraged, I literally just pickup one of these index cards,” she said. “Always keep smiling. They really get me through the day and that’s why I really enjoy being in my office.”
She said she is still waiting for answers, hanging on to hope that justice will soon come.
She said her healing journey has been strengthened by other community groups and mothers such as Janice Gordon with Victims of Milwaukee, Debra Gillespie of Mothers Against Gun Violence, LaPorche Kimber of Butterfly’s Sacred Journey and Trinika Walker of Stop the Violence 53206.
“We just have to put the guns down,” said Patrick-Yarbrough.
In the meantime, she said she’ll keep sharing her story and raise awareness on gun violence, hoping for an end.