New Orleans, LA - On this Fathers day, a man who lost his only son on Easter is now reaching out to other young men in his community.
Brain Banks' son, 20-year-old Brian Banks Jr. was murdered in Kenner. Now, he wants to help inspire a movement, to crackdown on violent crime.
From the outside, it's hard to tell what this family has gone through in the past two months.
"I didn't get that phone call this morning that said Happy Father's Day Daddy," said Banks.
Banks, a father of three lost his only son, Brian Banks Jr. after he was murdered in a Kenner driveway in April.
"My Easters are never going to be the same, I don't care what day Easter falls on. That's going to be my remembrance of Easter," said Banks.
Banks says he was at a barbecue at City Park when he got a phone call no parent ever wants to get.
"My wife called me. She called me and said, they killed our son, and she hung up, I hung up, and that was it. I didn't know what to do from there, I just fell to the ground," said Banks.
"So when I received that phone call, from one of my sisters, and they kept saying, he gone Trina , he gone. I'm like what do you mean he's gone, where is he, put him on the phone, I need to talk to him. He's gone. I said no, and I hung up on her," said Katrina Banks, Brian's wife.
"I had to view his body, I had to be the one to ID his body, I had to do all of that," said Brian.
Since his son's murder, Brian says his organization Working Man Entertainment, with the message, "Teamwork, makes the dream work," has gained a more powerful meaning. He says from now on, his mission is to help others going through a similar struggle.
"These young men, they don't have the guidance that I had when I was young, and we are just trying, cause you got a lot of dudes my age, dead or in jail. They can't help anybody from where they're at," said Banks.
Meanwhile, this family is taking the death of a young man, who had two young daughters ages one and two years old, one day at a time.
"I went home, and I text him, I love you son, because I know he's going to text me back, I love you more Mom, and I did it three times, and nothing, and I still can't believe till this day," said Katrina.
"What I would like to do, is for all us to take a stand, and not just be selfish with our own, but try to help others," said Brian.
Brian's organization is planning a men's forum at A L Davis park on Sunday June 24th. He says they plan to talk about crime, and other pressing issues in the African American community. He's also invited Crime Commissioner James Carter, and Mayor Mitch Landrieu.
