Ashton Gray's mother, "We won't ever have closure"

DECATUR, Ill. (WAND) - The mother of 24-year-old Ashton T. Gray, Jera Gentry, said he was on a path to turning his life around.

Before he died, Gentry said he was working at a local Burger King and working to move from Springfield to Decatur. 

"It's been hard, my Ashton's gone," Gentry said.

It's been less than a year since her son was shot and killed. There used to be a small memorial for Gray in front of his mother's house for people to see as they passed by. She has since changed it to a miniature garden in remembrance of him. 

"I'm hoping now my (family) and I can have some peace," Gentry added, after Decatur police told her they arrested Quonterace Dozier, a suspect in Gray's murder. Chief James Getz said his heart goes out to Gentry. 

"Hopefully this helps a little bit. We can't bring her son back," Chief Getz said. "But we can do our best to bring justice to the person who took her son's life." 

"But it will give us some peace to know this person can never do this to anybody," Gentry said. 

Since then, Gentry has been a force in getting people to stop the violence, put the guns downs and remember Ashton Gray. 

"Look at him for the person he was and know that life is gone for something senseless," Gentry once said in a 2018 interview with WAND.