LOUISVILLE, Ky. — It was 9:30 p.m. on a Thursday, Krista and Navada Gwynn were expecting to see their 19-year-old son Christian return home soon from having dinner with friends. However, the news they received Dec. 19, 2019, would tear their world apart.
“Why him? Why him?” Christian’s father, Navada Gwynn said.
The parents recount that night and say that Christian was walking on the sidewalk around 43rd and Market St. when a car circled the block, rolled down the window and started shooting.
Christian’s mother, Krista Gwynn then received a call from a friend about the tragedy and rushed there.
“‘I'm telling you you need to get to 43rd and Market. Hurry up.’ So I said, ‘okay,’” Krista said.
She was there within minutes and her husband followed close behind.
"He could actually see my son, the paramedics working on him, about to put him in the ambulance, and we're just asking the police, ‘is that our boy?’” said Krista. "Only thing I could do was scream his name.”
Christian was rushed to the hospital, where he later succumbed to his injuries.
“My son was hit two times,” said Navada. “He was hit in the upper torso, and one through the hand.”
Christian’s friends, who were walking with him, ran as the person or people in the car fired.
“I didn't understand how my son didn't get to run when they got to run,” Navada said.
His friends got away unscathed.
“I guess, what he was trying to tell us, is that Chris wasn't paying attention or didn't seem them, and he got caught,” Krista said.
Christian was a big brother and had just finished high school in 2019, he had also just graduated from Job Corps over the summer. At 19, Christian had plans for a bright future and was loved deeply by his family.
“Everything I've asked for from my son, he's given it to me,” Navada said.
Although Christian tragically may not live out that bright future ahead of him, a part of him is making a difference for others in need as his heart ventricles, some of his muscles and Christian's eyes were donated.
“He gave somebody sight and I'm just hoping my son can see life again. That maybe whoever has his eyes will have the adventure and see the things the way he saw,” Krista said.
On that night just two blocks away from their home, the Gwynn’s find some solace knowing there were people there for Christian as he took his final breaths.
“One man took his hood off and put it under my boy's head so his head wouldn't lay on the concrete. And another woman stood by him and told him that his parents loved him. She didn't even know us.” said Krista. “And it makes us feel a little bit better, that someone was there telling my son he was loved because he was. He wasn't alone.”
The corner where the murder of their son happened is hard to even drive past nowadays, especially when Krista and Navada know the murderer of their son could still be walking free. That hurt cuts worse, as Christian’s friends described the car they believe they saw to his parents.
“It was told to me on numerous accounts that it was a 2006 maroon Chevy Impala,” Navada said.
"It doesn't sound familiar to us but we've seen, now every car we see look like it, we wonder,” Krista said.
Two months later, Christian’s parents are imploring the community to speak up. For a family still reeling, knowing what exactly happened that night could make all the difference.
“You don't have to say 'well I, so and so, seen it.' Just say I think I know this might be important. I got some information. You don't have to leave your name. Just anything. What would that mean to you all? Everything. It would mean everything to have some kind of closure,” Krista said.
Were you in the area of 43rd and Market St. on Dec. 19, 2019? Did you see the car potentially used in the shooting?
A tip could bring this family well-deserved peace.
If you have any information, Call Crime Stoppers at 582-CLUE
More from Crime Stoppers:
- 'Those cold cases, it takes years to solve them': Father seeking answers in son's 2019 murder
- 'One of our biggest complaints in St. Matthews is shoplifting': Police searching for Thanksgiving shoplifters
- 'It tore us up as a family, my kids are very broken': Mother searches for answers in son's New Year's Eve murder
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