Eric Garner's death at the hands of police prompted weeks of protest and changes to police protocol -- and for his family, it brought a grief they still have not been able to shake. As the anniversary of his death approaches, NY1 takes a week-long look at what has changed in the year since he was killed. In the series' first installment, Staten Island reporter Amanda Farinacci sat down with his mother and filed the following report.

Wreaths, pictures and remembrances mark the spot where 43-year-old Eric Garner died last summer. But at his grave site in Linden, New Jersey -- nothing.

With plush grass that is just a shade darker and a bit longer than the grass growing around it, the grave does not even have a marker.

Unlike the Tompkinsville street, the peaceful site has flown under the radar -- something Garner's mother says she likes.

"I'm there. I take pictures every time that I'm there," said Gwen Carr. “And it's beautiful there, even without the marker, which we are planning on getting the marker."

By now, Garner's story is well known.

The father of six died during a quality-of-life crackdown by police trying to stop the illegal sale of cigarettes.

An officer using what the police commissioner initially called an apparent chokehold – a move barred by NYPD policy -- wrestled him to the ground.

It was captured on cell-phone video.

The death was ruled a homicide by the medical examiner. However, nearly six months later, a grand jury decided not to indict the officer.

"If there was not anything else, there was probable cause,” Carr said. “So I don't know what was presented to the jury, because there was no transparency."

Gwen Carr has joined the push for the release of the grand jury minutes.

A newly retired train conductor, she has become a tireless advocate, traveling across the country to support what she calls a renewed civil rights movement.

"I'm learning about things that I've never known about before,” Carr said. “So I'm doing this for myself as well as other families. There are some families that didn't get high profile like my son's case did and they're in just as much pain and agony as I am."

On the cell phone video, Garner's last words could be heard: "I can't breathe."

His mother prefers to remember the words he spoke earlier that day.

"He said, ‘Love you too, ma.’ That is the way we always ended our conversations,” Carr said, “And that was the last time I spoke with him, never dreaming that would be our last conversation."