Slain Teen’s Family Holds Memorial Birthday Party

Balloons filled the house. A birthday cake waited on the kitchen table. Sharon Smith busied herself at the stove as friends and family arrived to celebrate her son’s 15th birthday. But he wasn’t there.

Clive Jackson Jr., whose birthday was Wednesday, was fatally shot Nov. 21 at a doughnut shop in South Los Angeles. Antwaine Butler, 17, has been arrested and charged with his murder.

On Saturday afternoon, more than 50 family members and friends gathered at Jackson’s home. “It’s a celebration of life, not death,” said Natasha Gago, a family friend.

Smith said she wants to keep her son’s memory alive so no one forgets his tragic death. “I lost the most precious thing in my life,” she said. “I don’t want to see any other young man die like that.”

Jackson, an avid basketball player, was not a gang member. Family members and friends said he was a good student who liked church and shopping with his mother.

There were 658 homicides last year in Los Angeles, up from 597 in 2001. Jackson’s death occurred during one of the city’s most violent weeks. He was the 17th person killed in seven days. Half an hour after he died, a 20-year-old man was fatally shot.

Mayor James K. Hahn and Police Chief William J. Bratton used Jackson’s death as a rallying cry against gang violence.

Jackson’s family hopes it will send a message. “Some people have to die so others can live,” said Bobby Chin, Jackson’s 21-year-old cousin.

The months since his death have been difficult, his mother said, adding that she has not slept in her bedroom since then. Jackson’s cell phone number is still on the refrigerator door.

His mother said parents who have lost a child need to speak out against violence. “They took my son’s life,” she said. “I’m going to fight for my son.”