MUSKEGON, MI - In a small Muskegon apartment, a mother fills a stocking for her son who won’t make it to the annual family Christmas Eve gathering this year.

The stocking, adorned with his name and “Merry Christmas 2025,” gets hung next to the others, above a mound of presents that Deborah Wyrick said she just started getting ready for the holiday.

Wyrick holds up a bottle of wine with the name “Josh” inscribed on it. It was originally supposed to be a gift for her son, but now she says she won’t ever open it.

“I just like to keep the memories,” Wyrick said, in front of a shelf adorned with photos, stuffed animals, chocolate boxes and dried flowers of memories past.

Wyrick’s 25-year-old son Joshua Fondren Jr. was shot and killed on Dec. 6 at a friend’s home in Muskegon.

Cori Marie-May

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