My daughter was killed at 19, and this barbaric trend of casually filming violence has to stop

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Bystanders are filming the deaths or severe beatings of victims instead of intervening or calling the police. There are plenty of reports of our youth being victimized in fights and stabbings as their peers just stand by and casually film their plight.

In the age of social media, this is a brutal reality for far too many parents across the country. The police frequently identify deceased persons and locate their parents long after clips of the crime scene have already been uploaded and circulated online for everyone to see.

On Feb. 25, Birmingham mother Gail Maddox got the text every parent dreads the most. Her 20-year-old daughter Mahogany Jackson said she was being held hostage and implored her mom to call the police.

Parents, raise your children to never film someone else’s injury or death for sport. (iStock)

That was just the beginning of Gail’s agony. Not 24 hours later, police found Mahogany’s body. 

FBI LAYS OUT 4 VITAL STEPS FOR SPEAKING TO CHILDREN ABOUT TRAUMA, CRISIS

But something monstrous compounded this tragedy: videos of Mahogany’s rape, torture and death appeared and circulated online. Her sadistic kidnappers and killers recorded their atrocities for the world to see.

Gail had already suffered the fate that no parent should ever have to endure, the death of her child. But with this barbarity published online, she suffers that indescribable pain over and over again with each share of the video.

People actually sent the horrifying footage to Mahogany’s family, as if they needed to see it. “That’s my child. Please stop. I can’t take it,’’ Gail pleaded.

I have lived the moment of unspeakable shock and grief when my own daughter was shot dead at just 19, killed by a stray bullet as she was sitting with friends in a car being filled up with gas. I know what Gail suffered in losing her daughter, and I regularly counsel and console other parents walking the same path of grief.

‘A HEART

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