CHARLOTTE (QUEEN CITY NEWS) - Where do you find forgiveness?
The most obvious answer is likely church, on a Sunday morning, somewhere between the sermon and scripture.
For some, it’s softly spoken at the foot of a grave.
The search can also take you to letters on a keyboard or stories on a page.
“I did want to highlight that a little bit more,” said Shalisa Jones while typing.
For Shalisa, she learned forgiveness from her older sister, Ericka.
“She forgave, I forgave,” said Shalisa. “A lot. A lot.”
The two fought and teased each other like all siblings do. Ericka was the older, easygoing one, and Shalisa…
“She looked up to me. I like to tell everybody what to do. I used to tell her what to do, even though she was the oldest,” laughed Shalisa. “(Did she listen?) Yeah, if she didn’t-we fought!”
Ericka was always quick to smile or sing.
“She would always try to sing, nope, she couldn’t sing,” joked Shalisa.
Ericka had two kids and loved them.
“Yeah, especially her daughter, spitting image, that’s her twin,” said Shalisa.
Now, Shalisa would give anything to hear her sister’s laugh or her sing karaoke off-key.
“Yeah.”
It was 10:30 at night on December 22, 2023. Ericka was along South Tryon Street in Charlotte. She was heading home when she was hit by a driver, who ran and left her on the side of a neighborhood road. By the time the ambulance got there, it was too late.
“I missed the first call. I received the second call- I was like, what? It was surreal,” remembered Shalisa.
The next day, Police arrested Matthew Sean Rowley. He later admitted guilt to felony hit and run, and a few other charges. Since he pled guilty, he never went to trial. Instead, he was sentenced at the Mecklenburg County Court House to 45 days in jail and probation. During his sentencing, it was the first time Shalisa saw the man who killed her sister. When she stepped up to give a victim impact statement, the words she said were not for her- but for Ericka.
“It wasn’t even my case, no,” said criminal defense attorney, Kelsey Lee. “That’s not something you see in court.”
“The first words I said, were speaking for my sister. I had to let her voice be heard,” remembered Shalisa.
“It’s such an uncommon reaction to have when someone has done such wrong to you,” said Kelsey.
Charlotte (Queen City News)Charlotte (Queen City News)Charlotte (Queen City News)“She wouldn’t hold a grudge against him, as many times as we fought, she acted like it was nothing. So if she was there, I know she wouldn’t hold a grudge if she had survived that,” said Shalisa.
“I absolutely, absolutely will remember that for the rest of my career,” said Kelsey.
“I told him, I am letting you know, I forgive you. But, I’m forgiving you for me and for my family,” said Shalisa.
“To see forgiveness stopped everyone in their tracks and made everyone emotional,” said Kelsey.
“I told him again, just in case he didn’t hear it the first time, I forgive him,” said Shalisa.
Sitting in the spot where she was left is a small roadside memorial for Ericka. It’s been a year- and time feels like it has crawled and sped up all at once.
“I never pass that street without looking over. To say hey- I’ll see you later or something,” said Shalisa.
In the place where the unthinkable happened, Ericka showed her little sister what to do.
“Well, it’s her story,” said Shalisa, while typing.
Shalisa is writing Ericka’s story. It’s partially about how she died, but mostly about how she lived.
She drives by her memorial every day.
“I stop and say, I’m about to go talk about you girl,” said Shalisa.
When we go looking for forgiveness, sometimes it’s not exactly where we thought it’d be. It can be found in unforgivable circumstances, in courtrooms, and in broken hearts. Wherever it may be, it has the power to transform, like changing a story of loss… to one of love.
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