LEXINGTON, Ky. (LEX 18) — It is a somber day for the family and friends of 20-month Joshua Bowen as they gathered together to keep his memory alive during a balloon ceremony on Saturday.
His grandmother, Michelle Johnson, says that even at a young age, he could light up a whole room.
"He was just so sweet. He just had a beautiful smile and a beautiful aura about him," said Johnson.
Johnson and other friends say they tried filing several reports of abuse, but nothing was done.
"Because at 20 months old, he didn't have a voice," Johnson said. "For everything we try to do to make sure that we take him out of this situation, it just wasn't handled the way it needs to be."
Now, Johnson will be Bowen's voice and try to spark change in some child protection laws. She wants to expand on a criminal abuse law, making it a class A felony instead of a class B. She also wants extra protection for those who can't speak up.
"From five to newborn, they have no one but the people who are supposed to care for them," said Johnson.
When the news came out about what Bowen went through, it continued to stick with Johnson.
"You wake up every single day and he is the first thing you think of. He is the last thing you think of before you go to sleep," said Johnson. "Cause there was nobody. We kept fighting for him and fighting for him and there was no one that wasn't trying to do anything."
His grandmother will keep fighting for him by trying to change laws to ensure this doesn't happen to anyone else while keeping his cheerful smile and memory alive.
He would have been two on Saturday, Oct. 12.
LEX 18 previously reported that Bowen died on July 6 following alleged criminal abuse from his mother and her boyfriend.
27-year-old Briana Leigh Johnson, and her boyfriend, 22-year-old Kyle Shannon-Lee Guindon, were both indicted on a charge of first-degree criminal abuse in the case.
