My Son, PIERCE.
Pierce’s love of life exuberated out of his sparkling brown eyes and braces-filled smile. He loves his friends, his school, playing Roblox, Top Gun, traveling to foreign countries, skiing, telling jokes, making people laugh, dancing, chocolate mousse, shopping in the toy section of Target, and eating ice cream while taking a bath, just to name a few. He loves his family, his twin cousins, and especially me, his mom. Pierce is a mama’s boy.
Pierce, my little mama’s boy, was tragically taken from us on January 13, 2021. He was murdered by his father, my ex-husband, while he slept. Pierce was shot in the heart with a gun and then his father cowardly took his own life. Pierce’s beautiful beating heart, which was loved by so many, never had a chance. My heart and soul were taken away from me that day, as well as from all those who loved Pierce - which are so many children and kids from around the world.
My life has been annihilated. I have become a shell of myself and a mother with a murdered son. I am a mother who tried to protect her son through the court system but wasn’t able to in the end because guns made the power uneven. All those who loved Pierce have been deeply affected by this act of violence. Pierce’s friend, who was the last person to speak to Pierce on the night of January 12th, got on FaceTime with him to discuss Minecraft strategies at 8:30 pm. This friend has so much guilt that he said to his mom with tears streaming down his face, “if only I had stayed on FaceTime with Pierce, maybe this wouldn’t have happened.” This friend was 9 years old at the time.
I’m living 10 minutes at a time, which is a far cry from the breath-by-breath I started at. To survive some of those breaths took all the strength and courage that I had. I rarely leave the house because it takes a lot of work to walk around with a shattered heart, along with all the terror that lurks around the emptiness and the longing to hold my sweet, kind-hearted Pierce. I didn’t even get the chance to tell Pierce goodbye...
My friend and family law attorney, Monica Mazzei, also a single mother with one child, was so deeply affected by what happened to Pierce, that she decided to require all new clients to disclose weapons and lock them in a third-party location, as one of the prerequisites to represent them. This is how Pierce’s Pledge came to be. Taking away deadly weapons during an impulse, psychotic break, or angry moment, could prevent horrendous tragedies like this one.
I stand here today, not because I want to. I want to be eating ice cream with Pierce. And I am not standing here to fight and protect myself and my son, because my life has already been destroyed. I stand here and ask you to take this pledge for the legacy of my son, Pierce, for the legacy of all children taken in this manner, and for all of your kids. We must not only protect our children from gun violence, but also raise awareness and safeguard loved ones in the unimaginable aftermath and trauma of living with a nightmare.
Because if it can happen to me, it can happen to anyone.
With humble gratitude,
Lesley Hu
TO READ MORE PLEASE VISIT:
https://magazine.atavist.com/sins-of-the-father-san-francisco-vaccines-murder-suicide/
Call To Action
WE NEED YOUR HELP!
Here are some ways you can get involved with Pierce’s pledge:
Spread the word: Tell a family law attorney about Pierce’s Pledge and ask them to take the pledge on the bottom of this page.
Tell friends who are going through divorces or custody matters, that there are lawyers who ask the right questions and care about children’s safety. Lawyers who have taken the pledge have their names listed on our website.
Tell people who need gun storage that we have resources listed on our website.
Share with everyone so at the very minimum, they know to ask about firearm possession during divorce and custody proceedings.
Volunteer: Come to an event!
Donate: Pierce’s Pledge will be exhibiting at many family law conferences nationwide, as we aim to raise awareness and ask lawyers to take the Pledge. Donations will help support the fees and logistics for these events.
Honor Pierce: This is the most important of them all. If you have children, or just for yourself, please honor sweet Pierce by doing his favorite thing - eating ice cream (or any dessert), while taking a bath. Help us to continue his love for life and the act of parents loving their children.
Meet Pierce.
Vibrant, kind-hearted, hilarious boy with a laugh that fills your heart.
Meet Pierce’s Friends
Whose worlds have change when they learned the news of how Pierce was taken from them.
