A grieving mother is speaking out after her daughter was killed in a shooting that set off a chain of events ending in a police shooting the same day.
“She was just so strong, you know? She was strong,” said Shashawn Swanson, the mother of 30-year-old Nadia Swanson.
Swanson said she doesn’t want her daughter to be forgotten. She said Nadia was not only her daughter, but also a friend, a sister and a mother.
“She had five kids. So right now, they’re with their father and their other side, which, when they came, I had to tell them that their mama was killed,” Swanson said.
Last week, Mesquite Police said officers were called to a shooting at about 10:15 a.m. in the 9000 block of Markville Drive.
Police said the suspect in Swanson’s murder, identified as 32-year-old Gerald Frank Martin, left the scene.
Officers later attempted a traffic stop on LBJ Freeway near Town East Mall, where police said Martin exited the vehicle while armed and shots were fired.
Martin died at the scene.
The loss has been especially painful during the holidays.
“We always did stuff together during Christmas,” Swanson said. “I can’t take it right now.”
Mesquite Police are investigating the police shooting because it occurred within their jurisdiction. Dallas Police said they are continuing to investigate the homicide case.