The morning after her son was killed, Katrina Leonard knew only one thing: She had to go to church.
Noah Taylor died July 12, 2025, shot while driving to work on I-24, the victim of a road rage incident. He was 22.
“As his mother, I carried Noah in my body, but he carried my heart in his hands every single day of his life,” she said. “From the moment I knew he existed, he became a part of me — and he always will be.”
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In an act of faith that has defied grief, Katrina has forgiven the people responsible for her son’s death and found a church family that has grown with her and sustained her through one of the hardest seasons of her life.
Katrina grew up in Baltimore and did not come from a deeply religious environment. She was baptized in 2008 but admits she did not fully surrender her life then.
“I was baptized. I sent my kids to church. I believed in God. But I never fully submitted to Him until now,” she said.
For a time, she and her husband, Scott, drifted away from attending church — until Noah stepped in and encouraged them to return.
Katrina described Noah as having a spirit that was uniquely his, sometimes a little stubborn, and incredibly loving and compassionate. He would often stop by just to hug Katrina or surprise her with flowers.
“He always stood firm in what he believed and would argue his point wholeheartedly,” she said. “But those who knew him best loved the passion and heart behind it.”
Noah had become friends with a man named Tonny and his family at LifePoint Smyrna. Through their discipleship, Noah was baptized March 30, 2025.
“Noah’s life changed when he was baptized,” Katrina recalled. “You could see God working in him.”
He invited his family to church to meet Tonny and his family in April 2025. Katrina recalled that Noah cried tears of joy when they said yes.
Katrina and Scott began attending regularly — until her knee surgery pulled her away, and she eventually stopped watching the services online.
“I still prayed every night, but that was the extent of my relationship with God,” she said.
Then everything changed.
The night before he died, Noah unexpectedly spent the night at Katrina’s home — something he hadn’t done since he moved out in 2024.
“I am very blessed that the last words I heard from him were, ‘I love you too,’” Katrina said. “Those words were spoken early that morning and echo in my heart every single day.”
Unimaginable loss
The following hours would bring unimaginable loss. That Sunday, July 13, is when her real journey began.
“My world shattered. I didn’t know how I was going to survive this,” she said. “But deep down, I knew I needed to go to church.
“I told Scott we needed to leave early because I didn’t know if I could even get out of the car. But when we got there, I got out easily,” Katrina said. “I kept thinking, this is where Noah would want me to be. In reality, it was God calling me back.”
She cried through the entire service. But one of the worship leaders kept glancing her way. Afterward, the woman approached her.
“She came up to me and said, ‘You look like you need prayer.’ Another woman gave me a hug,” Katrina said.
Katrina and Scott soon joined a discipleship group, knowing they couldn’t walk that road alone.
“We needed people who would pray with us, support us and help us grow,” she said. “That group became a lifeline — a place where we could grieve honestly and learn what it means to follow Jesus in the middle of heartbreak.”
One Sunday, Katrina went forward during the altar call and met with Peyton Bullen, the Smyrna campus pastor. She had forgiven her son’s killers and wanted to ask him to pray for them.
Her words stopped Bullen in his tracks.
“When I heard what came out of Katrina’s mouth, I started weeping,” he said.
Katrina said the forgiveness didn’t come quickly. Instead, God slowly worked in her heart through prayer, scripture, and discipleship.
“It definitely took time. In the beginning there was a lot of ‘why’ — why this, why my son,” she said. But through Tonny and Anabell’s discipleship, she found perspective.
“We talked about what Jesus suffered for us — the pain and the suffering he endured,” she said. “And I realized Noah did not suffer. Noah didn’t have that pain. I also realized that Noah wasn’t just my son. He was God’s son and God gave him to me.”
Rather than allowing bitterness to take root, Katrina said God has used Noah’s life and even his death to draw people closer to Christ.
“I truly believe God is being glorified through Noah’s story,” she said. “People have come back to church, people are asking questions about Jesus, and lives are being changed. Noah loved deeply, and even now, God is still using his life to point people toward Him.”
Community support
This year, Katrina joined a women’s discipleship group and began Rooted, a Bible study program.
“Rooted is helping me understand Scripture on a deeper level, and the women’s group gave me a circle of sisters who speak truth, encouragement and accountability into my life,” she said. “For the first time, I’m not just attending church — I’m part of a community.”
For Bullen, Katrina’s story is a living illustration of Romans 5 — that suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope. The transformation he witnessed in Katrina reflects something he believes only the church can produce.
“The church is the only institution the Lord established for the care and ministry of the Word and prayer — to lead God’s people to walk in faithfulness,” he said. “When you see someone walk through suffering and respond with hope, with character being built — and then others see God’s goodness in their life and desire the same thing — that only happens in the Lord’s kingdom.”
As Mother’s Day approached, Katrina prepared for her first without Noah. She also felt God leading her to be baptized as a public declaration of transformation. The only available date was Mother’s Day itself, with LifePoint lead pastor Pat Hood leaving for sabbatical soon after.
‘God’s perfect timing’
“Being baptized on Mother’s Day was not my choice. It was God’s perfect timing,” she said.
“Through all of this, I have learned that God is faithful,” she said. “He has sustained me every single day since losing Noah. I would not have survived without Him.
“And now, even in my deepest grief, I can say this: God is faithful. God is near. God is my peace. And He has never left me.
“I know that Noah is with our Father in heaven now,” she said. “And because of Jesus, I know this goodbye is not forever. One day I will see my baby boy again.”
She finds comfort in Psalm 34:18: “The Lord is close to the brokenhearted and saves those who are crushed in spirit.”
EDITOR’S NOTE — This story was written by Zoë Watkins and originally published by the Baptist and Reflector.
