NORFOLK, Va. (WAVY) — A mother is grieving the loss of her son killed in a tragic act of violence.
Bradley Kortbawi, 44, was shot at point-blank range in the early hours of July 6 on Core Avenue in Norfolk.
Norfolk police charged 56-year-old Vandes Jackson with second-degree murder and use of a firearm in the commission of a felony.
“He [Brad] went on and became a U.S. Marine and he ended up in Norfolk, Virginia,” said Renee Kortbawi, Brad’s mother.
It was Norfolk where Brad Kortbawi decided to settle down and make his permanent home.
Renee Kortbawi, who lives in Columbus, Georgia, remembers her son as the man who would help anyone — even earning the nickname amongst his friends as “the unofficial mayor of Ghent.”
“A community of nothing but people saying how wonderful he was,” Renee Kortbawi told 10 On Your Side, “how he helped them in everything. He knew no stranger. He talked to everyone.”
Kortbawi even starred in a local movie shot in Portsmouth called The Towel Man.
“I remember when I was up there to visit him last, he played it for us because it was made in 2021,” Renee Kortbawi said. “We watched it. His character was a private eye and he ends up dying.”
Renee Kortbawi said she remembers feeling upset watching her son die in a fictional movie. She never dreamed he would lose his life three years later to senseless gun violence.
“He knew guns inside and out,” Renee Kortbawi said. “He had many, he took care of them. Everything you’d want in a gun person, to train you, so the fact that he was shot with one bullet to his temple and he’s gone instantly makes no sense to me. I’m at a loss. We’re going to miss him a lot.”
Kortbawi’s family has started a GoFundMe to support his sons and help with funeral expenses.