‘He didn’t deserve this’: Mom of 19-year-old killed at Platinum Club remembers son

PENSACOLA, Fla. (WKRG) — LaShunda Dortch woke up Friday morning to a call a mother never wants to receive.

“His friend told me he had got shot,” Dortch said. “I asked him, ‘Where were y’all at?’ He said, ‘We we’re at The Platinum Club’ and, ‘I said oh my God.’”

Dortch’s son, 19-year-old Ke’Avain Sanders was shot and killed at The Platinum Club off North Palafox Street in Pensacola. Police say the shooting happened at about 1:30 a.m. Friday.

“All I kept doing was praying that he’d be OK,” his mother said.

Sanders was pronounced dead at the hospital. Police still do not have a suspect in custody or any suspect information.

Dortch said her son was a smart, funny kid. She said if he knew trouble lurked at The Platinum Club, he wouldn’t have gone.

“Whenever they called me back there and told me he was gone, it was like my heart felt out of my chest,” she said. “I just broke down because I know he didn’t do anything to anybody. He didn’t deserve this.”

Dortch said the shooting was a shame because not only has she lost her firstborn son, but another set of parents could lose their child as well.

“My son’s life is gone and so is yours and if they do catch you, you’re going to prison. Your life is gone,” she said. “It’s just wasted.”

Dortch said her son’s life was taken way too soon, but she said he will always have a special place in her heart.

“It’s something about your firstborn child. They made you a mother first,” she said. “Baby, I’m sorry this happened to you, I love you so much and you’ll always have a special place in my heart and you know what it was between us.”

If you have any information about the shooting, you’re urged to call police.

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