This is part two of a two-part series on fraternity house shooting victim Jamail Johnson.
Words cannot describe what this past year has been like for Shirlene Hill and her family.
Her son, 25-year-old Jamail Johnson, was killed Feb. 6, 2011, when men opened fire at the Omega Psi Phi satellite house on Indiana Avenue, near the Youngstown State University campus.
Johnson's death has left a void in his family's life, but through all of their pain, they said they forgive the men who took his life.
Outgoing, kind, compassionate and always smiling is how Jamail Johnson's family describes him.
"He was just an awesome young man," Hill said of her son.
Johnson's family couldn't wait to see where life would take him. But just a few months before graduating, he was murdered during a shooting spree at the Omega Psi Phi satellite fraternity house on Indiana Avenue, not far from campus.
"It's senseless. I don't understand it," Hill said.
Johnson's mother remembers going to the fraternity house in the early morning hours. It was cold out, and a young man asked her if she wanted to sit in his car. That's when the song "I Give Myself Away" by William McDowell came on.
"I looked at the girl sitting next to me in the car, and said I know that's Jamail," Hill said.
As soon as the song ended, the coroner asked Hill and her husband to identify the body.
"And I looked at Jamail, and I bent over and I kissed him, and I looked up and said 'that's my baby'," Hill said.
Then, Hill had to tell her son Sidney about Jamail.
"When he passed, it just felt like half of me was gone," said Sidney Hill Jr., Johnson's brother.
Christmas was especially difficult for Hill. She couldn't put up a Christmas tree.
"If I go to put up a tree, I have things from my son, ever since he was in kindergarten, so it's hard," she said.
Hill's faith carries her and is what has allowed her to forgive her son's alleged killers.
"I forgive them. I pray for their mothers and fathers, but yet, I want justice to be served," Hill said.
Pretrial hearings for the accused killers are set for Feb. 16.
"I'm Jamail's mother. I am his voice, and I'm going to stand. I will be there everyday," Hill said.
"You couldn't find one bad thing about Jamail. I just know justice will be served," said Sidney Hill Sr., Johnson's stepfather.
