(CNN) Nearly five years after her son Michael Brown was killed by a white police officer in Ferguson, Missouri, Lesley McSpadden was defeated in the city council election.

McSpadden was one of three candidates vying for a council seat in the St. Louis suburb. She lost to Fran Griffin Tuesday night.

McSpadden, who also goes by Lezley, was among three candidates running to represent Ferguson's 3rd Ward. If she had been elected, she would have overseen the police department linked to her son's death.

Brown, who was African American, was fatally shot by white Ferguson police officer Darren Wilson while walking home from a convenience store in August 2014.

"I did this because we were all devastated over what we saw almost five years ago," said McSpadden, 39, in an interview Tuesday with CNN. "I was personally devastated because that's my son. My children witnessed the devastation."

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