Mother survives triple shooting that killed 2 of her kids: ‘It has changed me’

RICHMOND, Va. (WWBT/Gray News) - A Virginia mother survived a triple shooting that killed two of her children, ages 18 and 14. As she mourns, police say her boyfriend is facing charges for allegedly opening fire following an argument.

Tiffany Terry is facing the unimaginable, knowing two of her children – Zion, 18, and Sadie, 14, Terry – are gone.

“I want them to not think of them as a tragedy, but I want them to think of them as life in this world,” Tiffany Terry said.

She and her children were shot last Tuesday in their Highland Park home when Richmond Police say 41-year-old Levy Nelson, who was in a relationship with Tiffany Terry, opened fire after an argument. Police say Zion Terry, a senior at John Marshall High School, died that day while his sister Sadie died Friday night at the hospital.

Tiffany Terry was injured in the shooting and is now recovering, but she is also left to navigate the pain of losing two of her children in a matter of days.

“A mother is not supposed to bury their children, but unfortunately, this has happened to me and it has changed me,” she said during a phone interview.

She says she wants people to look back on the light and love Zion and Sadie shared with the world.

“They loved just like I love,” she said. “I love hard. My kids love hard, so all the people they have touched in this world will always have a piece of Sadie and Zion with them.”

Tiffany Terry says Zion was her oldest son, calling him a protector. On Saturday, his classmates honored him by naming him prom king.

“He made me so, so proud to be his mother,” she said. “I thank God for letting me be his mother.”

Sadie, who was in the eighth-grade at Henderson Middle School, was her only daughter. She called her “Sweet Sadie” for her beautiful heart.

“She was so smart and so beautiful,” she said. “She was my princess.”

Through tears, Tiffany Terry said the siblings had big dreams for their future.

“She [Sadie] was going to go into the military at the high school and be an engineer,” she said. “Zion was going to Winston-Salem to be a nurse.”

The mother says she is getting through this difficult time with help from loved ones.

“I want to thank everyone for their calls and their prayers and their texts,” she said. “I might not be able to reach out to all of y’all, but I want to let y’all know I love each and every one of y’all and thank y’all for praying for my babies.”

A GoFundMe set up to support the Terry family had raised nearly $50,000, as of early Tuesday.

Henrico Police arrested Nelson hours after the shooting. At the time, he was charged with malicious wounding and use of a firearm during the commission of a felony.

Additional charges were likely to be brought forward, officials said.