My heart is saddened by the senseless death of a long time friend, John Henderson. I have known John sense I was a little boy, and he always called me “Cuz.” During that entire tenure, I never saw a bad side of John.

He was always willing to help anyone in our neighborhood, and he always greeted you with a smile. Because he didn’t drive, he walked just about anywhere he needed to go within a mile of our neighborhood. He didn’t have the best of clothing, shoes or house; however, he had something far more superior, a great personality.

He had very good manners, which is something that a lot of our young people don’t have today. John grew up in a generation and a neighborhood where neighbors looked out for each other. They taught each other’s children basic manners, respect and discipline.

It is so overwhelming to me that John was a victim of four young men, who were the opposite of the way he was raised, walking the streets with no respect for their fellow man.

On Friday, Sept. 26, I had been sitting on my porch up until about 8:30 p.m. and decided to go in and clean my kitchen. After cleaning my kitchen, I was walking down my hall toward the front door and saw red and blue lights. So, I immediately went to my front door to investigate and realized that something bad had happened because there was an ambulance at the scene.

One of my neighbors shouted to me, “Your cousin John had been hit!” Immediately, I ran to where John was laying, and because he couldn’t talk, the paramedics and the police began to question me about John’s age, address, family and etc.

I went to the emergency room with my parents, and John’s brother. Upon arrival, we were informed by the emergency room physician that John was bleeding on the brain, and he needed to be rushed to the medical center in Jackson.

Being concerned, I monitored his transport to Jackson, and the next morning found out that he was “brain dead.” At about 1 p.m. that Saturday, I was informed that John had died.

I keep saying to myself, “What if I had stayed on my porch 30 minutes longer, would that have prevented this brutal crime?.”

John and his mother had been paying life insurance premiums for many years; unfortunately, the insurance company decided to drop him from the life insurance program after finding out that he was a cigarette smoker. Cigarettes didn’t kill him; he was a victim of a senseless murder.

John’s family allowed his organs to be harvested, so that he could give others life, which would have been exactly what John would have wanted.

His family needs help to bury him. If you are willing to help, please let me know. John was a part of our community. He could have been any one’s father, brother or uncle walking from the store that unforgettable night.

These senseless tragedies should not happen in our community; therefore, we need to take back our streets.

I am thankful for my fellow residents who witnessed this horrific event and provided the necessary information to the Natchez Police Department.

These unselfish acts helped capture the four young men, one of which issued the fatal blow, that killed my dear friend and a great man, John Henderson, may God bless his soul.

Darryl V. Grennell is an Adams County supervisor.