After authorities announced three arrests Monday in the shooting death of her son, Brendan P. Tevlin, Allison Tevlin addressed the crowd of reporters at the Essex County Courthouse.
Tevlin, with some of her family members at her side, decried the country’s “epidemic” of gun violence and said she hoped other families might be spared a similar agony, according to a report in the Star-Ledger.
“While we cannot bring Brendan back to us, it is our sincerest hope that we learn from his death and by addressing the epidemic level of gun violence plaguing our country today,” said Tevlin in a calm, steady voice. “We want other families and communities to be spared the tragic loss and sorrow we will always feel.”
Tevlin also corrected earlier reports by authorities that her son had been targeted in the crime and said he was an “innocent victim” of a “random, senseless murder.”
The video of Tevlin’s statement can be seen on NJ.com.
Other details of the murder also emerged from Acting Essex County Prosecutor Carolyn Murray’s press conference, according to the Star- Ledger article. The three men arrested — Ali Muhammad Brown, 29, of Seattle, and Jeremy Villagran, 19, and Eric Williams, 18, both of West Orange — are accused of pulling up in a vehicle behind Tevlin’s car as he was stopped at a traffic light at Northfield Avenue and Walker Road in West Orange on the night of June 25.
According to the report, the men got out of their car and surrounded Tevlin’s Jeep, and Brown fired at Tevlin ten times, striking him eight times, said Murray. After Villagran and Williams fled, Brown got into Tevlin’s car, moved his body to the passenger seat and drove to an apartment complex parking lot, where he stole “personal items” from him, Murray said.
Allison Tevlin thanked authorities for their work on the case, as well as people who offered their support. “The overwhelming number of people, both near and far, who have told us they have been affected by Brendan’s death is not only due to the violent way in which he died, but also it is a greater acknowledgement to the manner in which he lived,” she said in her statement.
Tevlin concluded by noting that her family hopes that her son’s personal motto of “good vibes and easy living” would continue to impact people, “so good can always triumph over evil.”
