Nashville father loses both children less than two months apart

By Lydia Fielder

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    NASHVILLE, Tennessee (WSMV) — A Nashville security guard is grieving the deaths of his son and daughter, who died less than two months apart.

Calvin Johnson said he would not wish this on any parent.

“I guess I’m trying to maintain my sanity, keep my head up and let God just handle everything,” Johnson said. “I had to learn to really deal with reality the best way I can.”

Ke’Von Johnson, 23, drowned while swimming with friends in Percy Priest Lake on Memorial Day Weekend. It took crews more than a day to find his body.

Ke’Von’s half sister, 21-year-old Ke’Asia Franklin, died when she drifted into oncoming traffic on Dickerson Pike on April 8. The car swerved off the road and crashed through several poles. Her father said she was driving while intoxicated.

When he found out about his daughter, Calvin said he screamed and cried at the top of his lungs. He was just in his second day back to work after burying his daughter when he got a call his son had drowned.

“I felt like I had a big hole in my chest, and I didn’t know what else to do,” Johnson said. “Like, it was just it was just this big part of me just missing, and I couldn’t do anything about it. I can’t get it back. It’s gone forever.”

Johnson said thoughts crept in about taking his own life, but he holds on to his faith. He said he knows his kids would want him to continue on in life.

“I’m gonna tell you like this: the only thing I got is God that’s keeping me,” Johnson said. “I have no strength. He is the strength that is helping me.”

Johnson created a GoFundMe page to raise money to pay for both headstones, as well as a car. Ke’Asia drove his personal car when she crashed, he said.

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