BATON ROUGE — After her 19-year-old son Montrell Nover was gunned down in her front yard, friends and family told Quatina Nover she should move. They told her it would be easier for her and for Montrell’s siblings.
“But I just feel like I can’t leave right now. I can’t leave my son,” she said.
She was in the house when Montrell Nover was shot around 10 p.m. on April 8 on Sycamore Street in Baton Rouge. Police said a confrontation led to the shooting and some people with Nover at the time shot back at the killer. So far, no arrests have been made.
His mother tells UWK her 12-year-old daughter was in the living room with other family members. They heard the shooting and dropped to the floor to protect themselves. Her daughter then ran to get her.
After her daughter told her what happened, they went outside and found Nover in the yard, badly injured.
One of her neighbors, a Baker police officer, summoned paramedics and law enforcement. Nover died before he could be taken to a hospital, his mother said. She watched him take his last breaths.
“They pronounced him dead right here on Sycamore,” she said.
Since then, it’s been a roller coaster. She’s dealing with her own grief and the grief of her other five children. Plus, the grief of his son, who is only a year old.
“Sometimes, like, I’m holding up. Sometimes I’m not holding up,” she said.
Her grandson baby-talks some of the words he used to hear his father say.
“Da-da man, da-da man, da-da little man. It’s like he’s got a feeling that his dad is not around him,” she said.
Quatina Nover said her son was a sweet kid who “would show you his little attitude.” He’d been in trouble, she said, gotten arrested and dropped out of school.
“He ended up being around the wrong crowd,” she said. The mother added some time at a group home helped him mature and left him better prepared for fatherhood.
Detectives are making progress toward finding her son’s killer, she said.
She said she’s getting support from family, and from one of his childhood friends.
“He’s right now by my side,” she said.
A funeral is on hold until the family can afford it. A GoFundMe campaign has been established to help them cover the costs. Donations can be made at the GoFundMe website.
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