During an evening in mid June, Roxie Jefferson cries after finding out her son was killed from gunshot wounds. This wasn’t the first instance of Roxie loosing a son. This would be the second time she lost a son in 2021, after her youngest son Dwayne Shorter III was killed in early January of the same year. This wasn’t the first time violence has affected this family in Washington, D.C. Isaac Aull Jr. lost his father weeks before Christmas in 1992, and Dwayne Shorter III father was murdered in 1999 while his mother was in the car. This lead these young brothers to live without their father. What followed in 2021, was something the family could never expect. Dwayne Shorter III would be killed on January 26, 2021, and Issac Aull Jr. would be killed on June 11, 2021. This lead their young sons to grow up without a father. Two generations after their fathers were killed. Chase Shorter, 3, and Jeziah Rivers, 13, will now go through life without fathers just like they’re dads before them, with the hopes that the cycle does not continue.

Cutout boards for DeWayne Shorter III and Isaac Aull Jr., which both lay inside the cousins mother’s home.

Jeziah Rivers holds tissues as family visit their deceased family member at Temple of Praise in Washington, D.C. on August 19, 2021. Rivers started to work for the Compassion and Serenity Funeral Home after he met the service members during his Father’s funeral.

Chase Shorter, 3, face is placed in his birthday cake by his cousins Jeziah Rivers and Aunt Layla Cobb at Launch Trampoline Park in Capitol Heights, MD on August 18, 2021. Chase did not take being face planted kinda, and cried with icing on his face while crying out, “I miss my daddy.”

Chase Shorter, 3, slightly cries while being consoled by his cousin Jeziah Rivers, right, during his second birthday party at Hampton Inn at Hampton Inn in Glenarden, MD on August 21, 2021. This will be his first birthday since his father died from gunshot wounds in January 2021.

Jeziah Rivers, sits on one knee and holds up a sparkled pillow with a crown to be placed on the deceased during a funeral at Temple of Praise in Washington, D.C. on August 19, 2021. “I treat the funeral home like a community, because I was never allowed to play football as a child because of my mother. I like going into work and putting on a suit,” Rivers said.

Chase Shorter, 3, looks up at the sky through holes inside the playground steps at Walker Mill Regional Park in Capitol Heights, MD on August 19, 2021. Many days Chase romans the playground by himself while his mom watches him closes.

Chase Shorter puts stickers on his his Mom in their apartment. 

Chase Shorter, 3, cries while laying in his bed in his Mothers apartment in Oxon Hill, MD on August 20, 2021, while being covered with a blanket of a photo of him and his deceased father. Shorter spends many days playing in his room while dancing to his favorite song “Get Money,” by Lil Baby.

Chase Shorter, 3, has bug spray put on him by his cousin Jeziah Rivers in their Grandmothers backyard in Kettering, MD August 13, 2021. Chase and Jeziah often visit their grandmother, but live with their moms.

Jeziah Rivers prays while going to the grave sight for his father and uncle. “I plan on coming here once a month and pray,” Rivers said. The cousins now live life without their fathers with Chase being the most affected. His family knows he misses his father, and do their best to calm his sadness. Their main hope is for the violence in D.C. to stop, and for their family to not have the story retold for the next generation of men in their family.