Springfield Family at Peace After Murder Arrest

SPRINGFIELD -- Nearly two months after her husband was murdered, a Springfield mother begins to seek justice. Alicia Edwards talked to ABC 22 Reporter Annette Peagler after a judge arraigned Julian Johnson Monday morning for the murder of her husband, Ernest Edwards. Police say Johnson shot and killed Edwards at the Nite Owl back in January. He was my soul mate, he was part of my heart, said Edwards. A piece of her heart is now broken after the murder of her husband. Edwards said her family moved from Chicago to Springfield to get a fresh start and so that her kids can grow up in a town not so violent. I wanted us to have a fresh start to try to live a more peaceful life and this town was more quiet, smaller, more peaceful, she said. His cousin was murdered, viciously murdered, him and his son, 9 Saturdays after we got here and we were thinking God that he was not there for that because he could have been a part of that, it's just crazy because we came here to get away from that, Edwards explained.That same gun violence took her husband's life. Ernest leaves behind two teenage daughters and a son. The SoFast Task Force arrested Julian Johnson last week for Edwards' murder. Senseless, it was senseless and he has turned my life upside down, now I have a ten year old son that will never ever, ever, get to see his father again, Alicia said. She's talking about Ernest Junior, who is also devastated, but grateful, Police finally arrested the man responsible for his father's murder. He destroyed, he messed up our family and he needs to know that his family is going to miss him, but our family is going to miss our dad, Earnest Junior said. Alicia said her husband was an innocent bystander when the shooting happened and she wants the people committing these senseless crimes to stop. Stop it, stop it, it's just not worth it, she said. Although a huge part of her family is gone, she said it's her faith that helped her forgive her husband's murderer. I forgave him and I pray for him and I pray for his family, but I want justice, she said.