Father of boy killed ‘trying to be strong’
Carter Clemons’ mother in hospital after Feb. 1 tragedy.
MIAMI TWP., MONTGOMERY
The father of a COUNTY — boy who was killed by his mother’s boyfriend in a murder-suicide in Miami Twp. is speaking out for the first time.
Carter Clemons, 6, was shot and killed by Jovonie McClendon before he turned the gun on himself at their apartment Feb. 1.
Carter’s mom, Di’esha Patterson, also was shot by McClendon and is still recovering in the hospital.
Chris Clemons, Carter’s father, talked to News Center 7’s James Buechele about how he’s dealing with the loss of his son and how he learned about the tragedy in Miami Twp.
“Trying to be strong so I can bury my son. It’s gonna be very hard,” he said Saturday.
“I ain’t used to none of this, I ain’t been through nothing like this, so I’m just trying to be strong for my family.”
Chris, who recently had shirts made with pictures of his son, said Carter always played with cars and dinosaurs.
“Seeing him smile, seeing him happy is everything. He was mostly happy all the time because he had a lot of family and friends around him,” he said.
Carter’s aunt called Chris the day of the shooting asking if he was with him and not at the scene.
“She really didn’t know. She was in a panic and she was hoping I took him to school, just hoping the best for him.”
Chris said he met McClendon once before at his son’s birthday party, but never thought he would act violently.
“I don’t know him personally, so I couldn’t put a finger on that. I couldn’t even say nothing about him,” he said.
Chris said he’s talking to Patterson’s family every day and that prayers are welcomed for her recovery and his son’s funeral next week. He said he’ll bury his son with some of his favorite dinosaur toys.
Carter’s funeral is Tuesday at 11 a.m. at Greater St. John Missionary Baptist Church, 4200 Germantown Pike.