The mother of deceased Dallas Cowboys LB Jerry Brown, Jr. has forgiven Josh Brent, the teammate who has been charged with intoxication manslaughter in Brown's death.
In a report by WFAA-TV, Stacey Jackson said she does not want Brent prosecuted for the death of her son.
"I've forgiven him, because he has enough on his plate with just reliving the whole thing over and over, and that's going to be for the rest of his life," Jackson said.
Brent, a Cowboys defensive lineman, was at the wheel of his 2007 Mercedes when it crashed last weekend. Brown, a practice squad linebacker, was a passenger and later died from his injuries. The two were college teammates at the University of Illinois.
Although Brent was judged to be intoxicated by police officers at the scene, Jackson said she told Brent he was not to blame when they met at a memorial service in Dallas earlier this week.
"[Brent] just knew that I was going to blame him, or go off on him or hit him – but no," Jackson said Friday. "Jerry would frown down on me if I did that, because that's not the way I raised him."
A wake was held for Brown on Friday in his hometown of St. Louis, followed by a funeral on Saturday.
Jackson said she told Brent her son would not want him to carry the guilt of his death.
"He wouldn't want you to blame yourself, because both of y'all didn't have seat belts," Jackson said. "It was like a little burden lifted off [Brent]."
Brown's grandmother, Theresa Clark, said the family shares that sentiment.
"If anybody should be mad, we should be mad. But we're not mad," Clark said. "That boy loved him. That was his friend. It was just an accident."
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