The joys of fathering a son came to a sharp halt for Andy Dockery this New Year’s Eve.
When Dockery got the news that his first child and only son had been shot and killed in Aurora, he couldn’t believe it.
“To lose anybody, it hurts,” Dockery said. “You will never know loss until you’ve lost a child. I’m upset, I’m bitter, I’m angry, but I’ve got to keep on going for his sake, my grandkids’ sake, to keep his memory alive.”
Andrew Dockery, 26, was killed in a drive-by shooting Dec. 31 on Aurora’s near southeast side, police said. Dockery was standing outside when shots were fired just before 7 p.m. Dec. 31 from an unknown vehicle that was traveling east on the 400 block of Melrose Avenue, according to a news release.
Andy Dockery’s wife, Luanda Dockery, said while she’s not Andrew’s birth mother, she has known him most of her life and considers him her son, too.
“He was getting out of a car trying to go into the house and somebody drives by and shoots him. Why? Why?,” she said. “I don’t even know if I will get the answer to that, I don’t know if that would appease anything. But (the violence) has got to stop.”
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Andrew – who many called Drew – didn’t deserve to be shot and killed, Luanda Dockery said. No one does, she said.
“He had a life, he had a family, his whole life ahead of him,” she said. “I just wish he had an opportunity to show everybody, to show the world, what he was truly made of.”
The highlights of Andrew’s life had to have been when his children were born, Andy Dockery said. Now ages 1 and 3, they meant the world to Andrew, his father said.
Dockery reflected on watching his son grow over the years, “developing from a little kid into a young man,” then seeing Andrew with children of his own.
“He was a lot of fun,” Andy Dockery said. “Always had something to say, loved his people, loved his family.”
The way Andrew treated people showed he had a big heart to match his big smile, Andy Dockery said.
He was caring, helpful and funny, Luanda said. “A character.”
“But I tell you what, if he loved you, you knew it,” she said. “And if he didn’t, you knew it.”
A protective older brother to his younger sister, Andrew looked out for his family and was proving to be a great father, Andy Dockery said.
He played sports at Waldo Middle School and East Aurora High School. Basketball was his number one sport, Andy Dockery said. He mostly played forward, but was adept at all five positions, his father said.
Andrew had some lows, too, in his life.
“It’s just a matter of him hanging out with the wrong crowd,” Andy Dockery said. “He was on the track of getting his life back on the right track before it happened.”
Andrew has a lot of cousins, including many young men who were affected by his killing, Luanda Dockery said. One of those cousins, Terrelle Suggs, 20, was fatally shot in Montgomery Jan. 13. Suggs and Andrew didn’t know each other well, Andy said.
As the question lingers about why Andrew was killed, Luanda Dockery is channeling her anger into outreach. She spoke last week at a community forum on violence in the Aurora area, and said she is trying to get out and hear from as many young people as possible, and find out what could help.
“A gun is final,” she said. “There are no do-overs, no takebacks. People can say ‘I’m sorry’ all day long, but my son is not coming back, my nephew is not coming back, the other young people killed since my son’s death, they are not coming back.”
The Dockerys are remaining involved in their grandchildren’s lives and ensuring they don’t forget their father, she said.
“I do believe that children their age who lose their parents, they are covered by the most high God,” Luanda Dockery said, “and he gives them peace, and they don’t endure the pain that we do.”
Twitter @hannahmleone