‘Unimaginable tragedy.’ Coast mom urges parents to ‘love on your kids’ after son, 15, dies
Through tears Friday, Tawanda Carter shared a sentiment she wants all parents to remember about their children.
“I just want to tell people to love on your kids because I will never get my baby back,” she said. “I’m heartbroken. We had a special bond from the time he was born. To me, he was just my big baby.”
Carter’s son, Shermarion Miner, 15, collapsed in the high school field house just before classes ended Thursday, according to a statement from the Pascagoula-Gautier School District. Miner had been lifting weights during a routine football workout at Gautier High School.
The school district called the loss an “unimaginable tragedy.”
“CPR was immediately administered by coaches, and 911 was called,” the statement said. Police Chief David Bever said authorities found Miner suffering from a medical emergency around 3:40 p.m. Thursday.
Miner was taken by ambulance to Ocean Springs Hospital, where he died at 4:57 p.m., Jackson County Coroner Bruce Lynd Jr. said.
Lynd said it appears the death because of natural causes, though he has requested an autopsy.
Carter said her son had a cough and cold-like symptoms and passed out on Monday while he was doing stretches during a workout. She said he suffered from asthma.
Shemarion’s parents took him to an urgent care facility after he passed out earlier in the week, and, later, to his pediatrician. His mother said he was checked for COVID-19 and the flu, but both tests came back negative.
She said Shemarion was given a breathing treatment, an inhaler and a steroid and was cleared to go back to school.
Thursday morning, she said, her son seemed to be feeling good, and that she was joking with him and his twin sister, Shermiya Miner, because they had both dressed in gray and black.
“He didn’t complain about anything,” she said. “He was feeling good.”
That morning, Carter said she decided to take a picture of Shermarion and his twin sister before they headed to school. She didn’t know it would be the last picture she took of her son.
Now, his mother and family are trying to work through unimaginable grief.
She said her son loved football and video games and was a big fan of LSU, where he planned to attend college and earn a degree in engineering. Carter had earned her master’s degree in social work at LSU.
“I still can’t believe he’s gone,” she said. “Please, love on your kids.”
Since his death, Shermarion’s mother said she’s heard from teachers and others offering her support.
Shermarions’s death also has left a lasting mark on the city of Gautier.
Mayor Casey Vaughan said the community is mourning the “tragic” loss and that the city is working with Gautier High School and the School District to plan a candlelight vigil in memory of Shermarion.
“I ask that you please remember and reflect on all the happy memories of Shermarion Miner ... and please continue to pray for his parents, siblings, family, the firefighters, police and medical team that assisted in his care, our youth, administrators, coaches, educators and staff of Gautier High School, the Pascagoula Gautier School District and all of the Gautier community during this time,” Vaughan said.
“I know from personal experience and want to remind our community it’s hard not to ask WHY, but God reminds us to trust in him. He is our rock and refuge.”
Shermarion is survived by his mother, Tawanda Carter, his father, Shermaine Miner, his brother, Ka’Darrious Miner, his twin sister, Shermiya, and sister Ta’sharmanee Miner.
This story was originally published January 10, 2025 at 11:47 AM.
