‘Keeping his name alive ’til the day I die:’ Local mother rallies to bring end to gun violence

By Taylor Thompson

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    ASHEVILLE, North Carolina (WLOS) — One Asheville mother continues to rally for justice in the murder of her 17-year-old son.

On Sunday, June 11, Javelin Duncan held a Gun Violence Victim Awareness Rally — one of the many she has held since losing her son, Teylyn McAlpin, to gun violence in 2020.

At just 17 years old, Teylyn “Tey” McAlpin was murdered in a shooting in Asheville on Nov. 28, 2020, near the Montford Baseball Field in downtown Asheville.

“His so-called friends had come and picked him up from my mother’s house,” Duncan said, as she sat next to many pairs of shoes lined up that others brought in honor of those who passed as victims of gun violence. “They led him down there for some reason and they killed him and left him down there just to die by himself.”

She said Tey was a new father and getting ready to graduate high school.

“It’s been hard. I always wonder what his last words are or if he called out for me,” she said.

Duncan said although it’s been difficult for her after Tey’s death, compounded by seeing the pain of Tey’s daughter and his siblings, being an advocate for gun violence has helped her on her healing journey.

“It helps me knowing that I’m helping other mothers that are going through it and some mothers aren’t ready to speak out so I told them I’d be the voice,” she explained.

Two teens were charged in the murder of Tey, and, currently, one of the suspects in the shooting is still on the run.

Duncan said she is still holding out for the day that Dionate Whitson is caught so she can finally get the answers for which she’s been waiting — more than two-and-a-half years: Why?

She explained that Tey was the kind of person everyone loved and that he always had the biggest smile.

“He was loved by many, loved by a lot, so I plan on keeping his name alive ’til the day I die,” Duncan said.

As for this community, Duncan said everyone needs to come together and stop being divided because in order to truly eliminate gun violence, everyone has to stand up together and let people know they’re tired of it.

“We have to put a lot of our differences behind ’cause it’s not about each individual; it’s about a person that lost a child,” she said.

Duncan said she doesn’t want any more parents to have to go through the pain of burying their children.

Tey would have turned 20 years old this year, and Duncan said that while they plan on celebrating his birthday, it will never bring him back.

“He didn’t get to celebrate any more birthdays because he’s going to be forever 17,” she said. “Even though we celebrate his birthdays, he’s always going to be 17.”

Duncan said her plan is to continue to host more rallies like Sunday’s event as she will work to ensure that her son’s legacy will live on through her efforts to end gun violence.

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