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THE NORWOOD NEIGHBORHOOD WHEN TRAGEDY STRUCK FIRE STATION NINE. TWO FIREFIGHTERS, JORDAN MELTON AND JAMAL JONES, SHOT IN BROAD DAYLIGHT, WHILE JONES WOULD SURVIVE. MELTON DIED DAYS LATER. NO ARRESTS HAVE BEEN ANNOUNCED IN THIS CASE, AND MELTON’S FAMILY IS LEADING THE CHARGE TO GET JUSTICE FOR THIS BELOVED PUBLIC SERVANT. I HAD THE OPPORTUNITY TO SIT DOWN WITH JORDAN’S MOTHER ABOUT THE LASTING IMPACT HER SON HAS MADE. AT FIRST, I COULDN’T GET ANGRY BECAUSE I WAS SO HURT AND DEVASTATED. AND I’M ANGRY NOW. WHO COULD BLAME ROCHELLE GASTON MALONE FOR BEING ANGRY? SHE LOST HER SON SEVEN MONTHS AGO TO GUN VIOLENCE. I KNOW DEATH IS INEVITABLE FOR ALL OF US, BUT WHEN ANOTHER PERSON TAKES ANOTHER PERSON’S LIFE, THAT’S NOT THE WAY IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE. JORDAN MELTON WAS ONE OF TWO FIREFIGHTERS SHOT AT STATION 9TH JULY 12TH, 2023. HE SUCCUMBED TO HIS INJURIES FIVE DAYS LATER, AND THE 26TH WAS A DAY THAT OF HIS FUNERAL. AND I CAN SAY THAT WORD NOW, I WASN’T ABLE TO SAY THE WORD FUNERAL. I JUST KEPT SAYING THAT THE CELEBRATION OF HIS LIFE. ROCHELLE OFTEN THINKS BACK ON JORDAN’S LIFE THOUGHTS OF HIS THOUSAND WATT SMILE CAN STILL OCCASIONALLY BRING ONE TO HER FACE, BUT WHEN THAT’S NOT ENOUGH, I CARRY WITH ME HIS BACK AGE AND NAME PLATE. I KEEP THAT IN MY PURSE ALL THE TIME. IF I GET A MOMENT, HAVING A MOMENT, I REACH TO IT AND THAT’S WHAT CAN GIVE ME COMFORT. OR I’LL LOOK AT PICTURES, WAS TO TRY TO FIND A SMILE IN MY HEART FROM A MEMORY OF HIM AS A AS A BABY, AS A YOUNG, A YOUNG CHILD. JORDAN’S DESIRE TO BE A FIREFIGHTER STARTED AT AN EARLY AGE. HE DIDN’T JUST WANT TO BE A FIREFIGHTER, HE WANTED TO BE THE CHIEF. AND I SAID, YOU WANTED TO BE A FIREFIGHTER? NO, MOMMY. I WANTED TO BE THE CHIEF. I WANT TO BE THE BOSS OF ALL THE FIREFIGHTERS. THAT’S WHAT HE THAT’S WHAT HE ASPIRED TO BE. THAT THAT EVER CONCERN YOU? THE TO BEING A FIREFIGHTER? YES. IT DID. THAT WAS MY MAJOR CONCERN. BURN SMOKE INHALATION OR, YOU KNOW, GOING AND COLLAPSING, YOU KNOW, FALLING THROUGH A COLLAPSED ROOF OR SOMETHING OF THAT NATURE. NEVER IN MY WILDEST DREAMS OR IMAGINATION DID I THINK THAT HE WOULD GET SHOT ON HIS JOB. SHE KEEPS IN TOUCH WITH THE POLICE, HOPING FOR UPDATES IN THE MURDER INVESTIGATION, UPDATES THAT NEVER COME. THE UPDATES WERE MORE OF THE FACT THAT, UM, JUST KIND OF LETTING ME KNOW WHO ALL WAS INVOLVED IN THE CASE AND, UM, THAT THEY’RE WORKING DILIGENTLY ARLEY. BUT NO REAL TRUE FACTS AS TO WHO ACTUALLY COULD BE THE THE THE CULPRIT OF, YOU KNOW, WHO DID THIS. SO I’M STILL IN A, IN A PLACE OF UNKNOWN. SO ROCHELLE IS CHOOSING FOCUS OVER FRUSTRATION. SHE HELD A SAFETY SUMMIT IN JORDAN’S NAME ON WHAT WOULD HAVE BEEN HIS 30TH BIRTHDAY. SO IT’S CALLED THE JORDAN E MELTON SAFETY SUMMIT. I’M DOING IT AT THE AG GADSDEN BOYS AND GIRLS CLUB. THAT WAS MY GRANDFATHER JORDAN’S GREAT GREAT GREAT GRANDFATHER. SO, SO, UM, I, I HAVE A PASSION FOR THOSE KIDS AT THE CLUB. PASSION FOR KIDS, AND A DESPERATE NEED TO KNOW WHAT REALLY HAPPENED. THAT’S THE WHOLE PURPOSE BEHIND IT, YOU KNOW, BRINGING PURPOSE TO PAIN. NOT JUST TO CELEBRATE OR HONOR OR MEMORY, BUT TO INITIATE IT. A PLATFORM THAT WILL MAKE A DIFFERENCE. THAT WILL, UM, KEEP HIS NAME IN THE FOREFRONT OF PEOPLE’S MINDS. UM, ON PEOPLE’S MOUTHS, TALKING ABOUT THE EVENT THAT MIGHT SPARK SOMETHING IN SOMEONE THAT KNOWS SOMETHING. THAT SAFETY SUMMIT WAS HELD THIS AFTERNOON. IT ENDED WITH A CELEBRATORY ORANGE BALLOON RELEASE FOR MELTON’S BIRTHDAY. AND WHILE MELTON’S FAMILY MAY NO