GARNER, N.C. (WNCN) — One year later, a mother is still living through the moment everything changed — her teenage boys were killed, their Garner home set on fire and her ex-husband was the man behind it all.
Kerrith McDowell said she was at the Wake County Courthouse exactly one year ago on June 24, 2025, getting a restraining order against her ex-husband, Shannon Collins. As she was turning in the paperwork, she received a call about her home on fire, and that is when she realized it was too late.
McDowell said it has been a tough journey as she works through grief, healing and remembering her sons, 15-year-old River and 12-year-old Jet.
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“Jet didn’t get to go to his eighth-grade dance. It’s really heartbreaking to me that he’s not going to be able to start high school in the fall,” McDowell said. “River would be starting his junior year, and he would also have been doing his second year as a lifeguard this summer.”…