TikToker Ophelia Nichols Breaks Down While Recalling How Husband Said Goodbye to Late Teenage Son

Ophelia Nichols is leaning on loved ones following a tragic loss.

Almost two weeks after sharing the devastating news that her 18-year-old son Randon Lee was fatally shot, the TikToker appeared in a series of emotional videos to let fans known how her family has been “pushing forward” in the wake of the tragedy. According to the content creator, her husband Derick has been a source of strength amid this difficult time, often being “right there with me” for support.

“He did everything for me,” she said in one TikTok video posted on July 6, “There was one day that I was so physically ill⁠, my body in some way was reacting to my baby child leaving this earth…and he was outside on the porch calling my friends, listening and asking how to help me because he’s never seen me so sick before.”

She continued, “I knew my husband loved me, but he really showed it through all this.”

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Ophelia went on to recall how Derick, who helped raise Randon for over a decade, broke down in tears at the teen’s funeral. “I’ve been with my husband 16 years and I ain’t ever seen him cry,” she shared. “And that day in front of the casket, my husband cried for the first time in front of me.”

Explaining that she and Derick “didn’t get the opportunity to have children together,” Ophelia then praised her husband for stepping up as both a stepdad and spouse as the family continues to mourn Randon.

“Without him and my daughter, I don’t know how I would have gotten through what I got through because I had to face a lot of things,” she said. “He is something special.”

Randon was shot on June 24 at a gas station in Prichard, Ala., according to the Prichard Police Department. In a press conference streamed by local outlet FOX 10 last week, authorities said that Randon died at a second gas station located across the street after driving there to “try to escape” the suspects. Police also said Randon was selling cannabis at the time of the shooting, which Ophelia said caused her “shock on top of the grief.” She added that she had “no idea” and thought he was on the “right track.”

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Ophelia first announced the passing of her son on June 25, when she posted a heart-wrenching plea for information in her son’s fatal shooting. “Somebody’s got to know something,” she said at the time. “Today would have been my baby child’s 19th birthday, but he was [taken] from me last night.”

She added, “My son was murdered. He was shot. And I have this hatred in my heart that I don’t recognize. Because I have never felt hate for anybody. This individual took my son’s life.”

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