photo by: Grace Hills/Kansas Reflector

A balloon release was held Saturday at Broken Arrow Park, honoring Isaiah Neal, a 17-year-old Lawrence teenager killed by gun violence.

Natasha Neal, a prominent Kansas activist, is channeling her grief into a renewed fight for justice and systemic change after her 17-year-old son, Isaiah Neal, was killed by gun violence June 13.

Natasha Neal was the activist behind 2020’s Occupy Mass — a Black Lives Matter street protest outside the Lawrence Police Department. She has been at the forefront of other demonstrations, including those advocating for the dismissal of cases against Rontarus Washington Jr. and Albert Wilson. She has also been fighting to end gun violence.

On the night of Isaiah Neal’s death, Natasha Neal was directed by the Lawrence Police to go to University of Kansas Medical Center, in Kansas City, Kansas. After about an hour of driving, she was told by her daughter that Isaiah had been taken to Lawrence Memorial Hospital instead. When Natasha Neal arrived, the hospital was on lockdown. When she finally entered her son’s hospital room, he had already died.

“I don’t want what I experienced between the police and the hospital to happen to any other parent,” Natasha Neal said. “They should never have to go through what I had to go through because of who I was.”

Lawrence-Douglas County Fire Medical, air ambulance services and hospitals are in control of where a patient goes, according to Lawrence Police Department spokeswoman Laura McCabe.

“The initial plan was, in fact, to transport to KU, and it changed several times as the patient’s condition changed,” McCabe said. “These situations are extremely fluid. It’s always our officers’ intention to give family members the most reliable information they have at the time and update as quickly as possible.”

The communication problems and the hospital’s lockdown prevented Natasha Neal from saying goodbye to her son. She wants to fix such problems for others.

“One thing I just want to stress to the hospitals, is that when Black people show up to your hospitals and they are mourning and grieving and showing emotion; there is no reason for a shutdown,” Natasha Neal said. “There was no reason why that hospital had to be shut down.”

Isaiah’s death will further fuel his mother’s activism. She is already considering initiatives like introducing an Isaiah Law and establishing a foundation in his memory.

Saturday afternoon, Natasha Neal hosted a balloon release for Isaiah Neal at Broken Arrow park in Lawrence. That was the park Isaiah was taken to for emergency services before being sent to Lawrence Memorial Hospital.

“This isn’t new for us,” Davis said. “We’ve been attending funerals of loved ones since we were teenagers who died in violent ways. I think right now it’s a time of reflection. What grows out of this?”

Natasha Neal used the balloon launch to ask for peace, along with attorney LaRonna Saunders.

“We’re calling for a ceasefire among the Black and brown communities,” Saunders said. “Because we’re the ones predominantly affected by it.”

Natasha Neal and Saunders want an end to all drivers of violence. Natasha Neal has seen violence affect youths more than ever before, with youths facing losses “back to back to back.”

Isaiah Neal had faced so much loss that he was about to begin therapy. “It’s not uncool to get help,” he’d told his mom. Isaiah was killed before he could attend his first session.

Rontarus Washington Jr., one of the men Natasha Neal helped free from incarceration, and his son were with Isaiah the night he was killed. The two were as close as “brothers.” Washington Jr. was next to Isaiah when he was shot.

“It just bothered me a lot,” Washington said. “I’ve been taking loss after loss after loss.”

— Grace Hills is a reporter for the Kansas Reflector, a nonprofit news service that partners with media outlets across the state.