Clifford Swan III

“Death leaves a heartache no one can heal… Love leaves a memory no one can steal,” a sign peeking out of a bouquet of wilted flowers, meant to ease the mind of mother Trina Houshmand, read. Many similar floral arrangements dotted the tables and countertops of her living room.
It was a normal neighborhood — within it a cream-painted house. Orange-shuttered, with a sea of evenly trimmed green grass surrounding it. Cars were parked in the driveway, and swaths of black-eyed susans led up to the front door, which was slightly ajar. The sound of Romeo, the family dog, barking frantically, alerted his owners that people were approaching.
The hum of the two o’clock news suffused through the house as Houshmand’s youngest daughter, 6-year-old Jasmine, played on her iPad. A portrait of Tupac painted by Houshmand’s son rested on the credenza.
Houshmand’s youngest son, Clifford Swan III, was a talented 13-year-old boy.
As an exceptional student, Clifford would often return home upset over a B on an assignment. Through reassurances from his mom and his own work ethic, he earned straight A’s in all of his middle school courses.
Clifford competed in the Special Olympics as a runner and enjoyed practicing relay races with his friends. He was fascinated with football and soccer. But he was a person of many talents.
At the beginning of 2019, Clifford was signed with Nickelodeon to work alongside Ryan Kelley (from “Ben 10: Alien Swarm”). On the day of the audition, he was so nervous that he couldn’t remember his lines. Instead, in a last-ditch effort, he improvised a promotion for a water bottle and stunned the judges, earning a spot among their star-studded list of child actors. Later, the Nickelodeon logo would appear at the bottom of his obituary.
Clifford’s love of acting permeated his household. After every school day, he came home excited to play with his sister and sing with his mom.
“[Clifford] would come home singing and he would be like, ‘Mama, listen to this!’ And I would tell him it was time to sit down and practice reading, but he would say, ‘Can we just sing it?’ because he loved to sing. He loved all kinds of music. He loved rock, he loved R&B, everything,” Houshmand said.
It would be moments like these that Houshmand would remember.
On Thursday, Sept. 12, Houshmand’s mother was supposed to move into her new apartment in the Spanish Lake area. Houshmand left Clifford with her mother, Clifford’s grandmother, while she went to unload some more boxes. This was when Clifford asked to go play with some other kids. His friend’s mother took Clifford and her son to Schnucks.
On her way back to the apartment, Houshmand received a call from her oldest daughter.
She told her that there was a shooting happening.
“My daughter told me [no one could find Clifford]. I said, ‘Well, I’m not worried about that, he’s ok,’ and I told her to calm down because she was scaring me. Because I just knew he was at the store,” Houshmand said.
When Houshmand arrived at the scene, she was told that Clifford was in the hospital.
“I froze up behind the wheel. And I said, ‘Lord, please, just let him be maybe hurt in the arm, hurt in the leg,’ anywhere but shot in the head,” Houshmand said.
At the hospital, doctors informed her that Clifford had died due to a bullet wound to the head. Since that day, Houshmand’s mother has not returned to her apartment.
She cannot go into Clifford’s old bedroom.
“My soul hurts,” Houshmand said. “Every day I’m thinking that my son is going to come upstairs. Every day. I don’t even like my house anymore.”
Houshmand moved her family into a new neighborhood to protect her children and give them an opportunity to go to a better school district. Her sunny, private cul-de-sac represents more than just a place to live. For now, her mother will continue living with her, as well as some of her older children and her youngest daughter.
18-year-old Jabari Lowery was charged with the first degree murder of Clifford, as well as armed criminal action. On Friday, Sept. 13, he was jailed with a $500,000 bail. Houshmand had to go to court to argue against a bond reduction.
“He took my son from me, who was a good kid. He wasn’t a bad kid. I asked if there could be no bond, because my son was not the intended target. So won’t he be trying to get who he intended if he gets out? He needs to stay in. Because my son can’t have a life, he’s gone now,” Houshmand said.
Houshmand believes that St. Louis needs stricter gun laws, making it more challenging for people, especially children, to obtain guns. In the future, she plans to found an organization against gun violence in the memory of her son. Her main hope is that other parents will be spared the pain that this loss has inflicted on her.
“I don’t ever want another mother to go through what I am going through.”