WINSTON-SALEM, N.C. — A Winston-Salem man is grieving the loss of his wife, Donna Blackmon, who died Sunday morning.
Police said a stray bullet, hit and killed her while she was sleeping.
News 2 spoke to her husband, Lorenza Blackmon, and the Forsyth County Sheriff who's fed up with senseless violence.
Blackmon's home in Winston-Salem will never feel the same.
He said around 4:00 a.m. Sunday morning he and his wife Donna Blackmon were asleep in the house when all of a sudden she woke him up saying she got shot.
"She's laying in the bed straight out with her arms to the side. She's not holding where she got shot. She's laying there and all of this part of her shirt is red," Blackmon said.
The bullet came through their bedroom wall. Blackmon said he was angry because gun violence doesn't normally happen near his home.
"This side of the street we don't see that. We see it on TV and for it to actually be right here with you, it's a totally different picture," Blackmon said.
He said he's known in the community as a handyman and is always there to fix something when someone needs it.
But, with his wife lying in his arms with a bullet wound, it was the first time he wasn't able to help. "That ate me up. I'm still fighting that. Because it made me feel like less of a husband to her because I couldn't save her."
Police charged a juvenile with murder in this investigation. It's the 21st homicide in the city this year.
This shooting in particular has Forsyth County Sheriff Bobby Kimbrough fired up. "A man went to bed with his loved one, his significant other, his spouse of many many years. He woke up a widower, that's senseless," said Kimbrough.
Sheriff Kimbrough says these acts of violence must come to an end. But to do so, he says it will take help from other leaders in the community.
"There's so many social issues that we refuse to address. There's so many uncomfortable conversations we refuse to have. And, until we have uncomfortable conversations and deal with some complex issues we will be continuing having complications in our communities."
Police arrested a juvenile in this case. He's charged with murder.