A Richmond, Virginia mother is speaking out after surviving one of the most unimaginable tragedies a parent can face — watching her two children die from gunshots allegedly fired by the man she loved.
Tiffany Terry, 38, survived after being shot on April 21 inside her Highland Park home. Her son Zion, 18, died at the scene. Her daughter Sadie, 14, fought for three days before passing away at the hospital. The man accused of pulling the trigger was Levy Nelson, 41 — Tiffany’s ex-partner and Sadie’s father.
Now, weeks later, Tiffany is finding her voice.
“A mother is not supposed to bury their children, but unfortunately, this has happened to me and it has changed me,” she said.
She wants the world to remember her children for who they were, not how they died. Zion was weeks away from graduating from John Marshall High School at the top of his class, with plans to become a nurse. Sadie, lovingly called “Sweet Sadie,” was an eighth grader at Henderson Middle School who dreamed of joining the military. Her family described her as “both sassy and sweet” — a girl who loved making TikTok videos and doing lashes.
“They were our next generation,” a family member said. “Why would you hurt your own child? I just can’t wrap my head around it.”
On the legal side, two charges against Nelson were recently dropped in Richmond Juvenile and Domestic Relations Court — one count of malicious wounding and one count of felony use of a firearm — because he was already facing identical charges in Richmond City Circuit Court, making the dismissal a procedural formality.
Nelson now faces nine charges in Richmond City Circuit Court, including two counts of aggravated murder of multiple persons.
The community has rallied around Tiffany, donating more than $50,000 through a GoFundMe campaign to help her recover physically and emotionally as she raises her surviving child.
Tiffany’s message to the world is simple and heartbreaking: “I want them to think of them as life in this world.”
If you or someone you know is experiencing domestic violence, call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 1-800-799-7233 or visit thehotline.org. Available 24/7, free and confidential.
