My daughter was murdered when she was 19 and this barbaric trend of casually filming violence has to end.

Bystanders are filming the deaths or the brutal beatings of the victims instead of intervening or calling the police. There are many reports of our youth being victims of fights and stabbings while their peers simply stand by and casually film their plight.

In the age of social media, this is a brutal reality for too many parents across the country. Police often identify deceased people and locate their parents long after crime scene clips have been uploaded and distributed online for all to see.

On February 25, Birmingham mom Gail Maddox received the text every parent dreads. Her daughter Mahogany Jackson, 20, said she was being held hostage and implored her mother to call the police.

That was just the beginning of Gail’s agony. Less than 24 hours later, police found Mahogany’s body.

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But something monstrous compounded this tragedy: videos of Mahogany’s rape, torture, and death emerged and circulated online. His sadistic kidnappers and murderers recorded his atrocities for the world to see.

Gail had already suffered the fate no parent should endure: the death of her child. But with this outrage posted online, she suffers that indescribable pain over and over again every time she shares the video.

In fact, people sent the gruesome images to Mahogany’s family, as if they needed to see them. “That’s my son. Please stop. I can’t stand it,” Gail pleaded.

I have lived through the moment of indescribable shock and pain when my own daughter was shot and killed when she was just 19 years old, by a stray bullet while sitting with friends in a car they were filling up with gas. I know what Gail went through losing her daughter and I regularly counsel and comfort other parents who are walking the same path of grief.

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I also work to strengthen community relations with the police. And I understand that, in a sense, this Mahogany torture video made public allowed the police to identify the accused and make a quick arrest in court.

So I will speak for Gail and for all the parents of murdered children:

If you see a video of a murder or torture online (posted by the perpetrator, an accomplice, or a bystander who thinks it is a sport) and share this video casually, know that you are complicit in this crime. Know that you are giving perpetrators the notoriety they crave.

And if you see this content and don’t do anything about it (if you don’t share it with authorities or request it be removed from the platform), know that you are part of the problem.

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The dissemination and sale of the video online was another level of evil. The accused have the nerve to call themselves the “Yes Lord” gang. The filming of their atrocities is the cowardly sadism of people walking around pretending to be human beings.

I challenge municipalities to prosecute people who broadcast such videos. States like Alabama have bans on the dissemination of revenge porn, which in Alabama is defined as “[d]”is distributing a private image with the intent to harass, threaten, coerce, or intimidate the person depicted.” That definitely sounds like it applies to Mahogany’s case.

And parents, please train your children to be leaders and stop the violence themselves when they can or call the police. Raise them to have the basic decency to never film another person’s injury or death for sport.

Social media platforms should proactively regulate and stop the circulation of recorded violence. Community moderation is common and in these cases it is a matter of life and death.

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But so far all these recommendations have been negative. There is also a positive view on the use of social networks in our country. We can use these platforms to heal ourselves and others, to spread messages of upliftment and mutual respect.

On social media, we can join with families who are survivors of violence and provide them with the emotional and material resources they need to cope with the pain and anger of a sudden loss.

I have personally shared advice from survivors on LinkedIn and Facebook. I have spoken out at every opportunity about the suffering mothers like me face and the urgent need for a solution to the violence that is tearing our neighborhoods apart.

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And now I ask you to join me. Use your voice forever. Do your part to help your community heal, particularly during National Crime Victims’ Rights Week.

We all have a role to play and together we can stop this continuous cycle of trauma and violence.

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