One year ago tonight, two teens were killed when someone opened fire on their vehicle in a Jefferson County apartment building parking lot.

Family and friends of Johnathan Keith Cottingham, 13, of Forestdale, and Louis Craig IV, 19, of Birmingham, gathered Wednesday night in that same parking lot on Chickasaw Drive to remember their loved ones whose lives were cut short on Dec. 11, 2023.

The Rev. James Williams of Pointe of Grace church led the group in prayer as those gathered clasped hands.

“Someone took my son’s life and his friend, someone else’s child life,’’ said Craig’s mother, Shequita Cooper. “It’s been really hard.”

The loss of her son during the holidays compounds her grief.

“I had to bury my son five days before Christmas,’’ Cooper said.

The deadly shooting happened just before 8 p.m. that Monday.

Jefferson County sheriff’s deputies responded to a call of shots fire in the 200 block of Chickasaw Drive near Forestdale.

When they arrived, they found a vehicle had crashed into several other parked vehicles in the parking lot of an apartment complex.

Cottingham and Craig were found unresponsive inside the vehicle. Both were pronounced dead on the scene at 8:19 p.m.

Authorities said a third teen, who was uninjured, ran to a nearby residence for help.

Cottingham was a sixth grader at Minor Middle School.

A motive has not been disclosed but authorities said the suspect knew the victims.

Leon Walker Jr., 21, is charged with capital murder in the death of Cottingham and Craig.

Cooper said she believes a second shooter was also involved.

She described her son as loving and caring.

“He would help anyone,’’ she said.

“He was very good with his hands, and he loved to work,’’ she said. “He was a humble child.”

“They took that all away from me,’’ Cooper said.

She said she wants others to learn from her son’s death.

“Everybody is not your friend,’’ Cooper said.

Craig’s grandmother, Tanya Copeland, said Craig was killed by his best friend.

“It’s extra hard because this was a child that we know and loved when he came to our house,’’ Copeland said. “This was my only grandson.”

“He was so sweet and so humble,’’ Copeland said. “He could be so aggravating and make you love him in the same breath. That was Louis.”

As for Cottingham, Copeland said, “He was just beginning his life.”

At Wednesday’s vigil, Cooper spoke tearfully before the crowd released balloons.

“This has been a trying time for me and my family because I never knew I was going to have to live without one of my children,’’ she said. “I just pray he’s at peace and he’s OK.”

“To the people who did this, God bless their souls,’’ she said. “Because they hurt me and my family. They destroyed my family, and took a piece of something I had that I will never get back.”