RICHMOND, Va. – There were heavy hearts across Richmond as more than a dozen families marched Sunday in honor of young people who have lost their lives to gun violence.
Families who have felt the pain of losing someone special to gun violence gathered to plead for the killing to stop.
The march walked past the spot where 15-year-old Tynashia Humphrey was hit by crossfire and killed just last weekend.
And it happened a few hours after ateenage boy was gunned down a few miles away off Laburnum Avenue in Henrico.
"Just because there is some conflict, I put a bullet in your head or in your heart,” Delegate Delores McQuinn (D - Richmond) told the crowd.”Something is wrong with that!"
Henrico Police are investigating the shooting of what sources say is the homicide of a 17-year-old near the St. Lukes Apartments.
"When you get a phone call that your baby isn't here anymore, it's the worst phone call in the world," another speaker said.
No one who marched Sunday knows what happened on Laburnum Avenue, but almost everyone in attendance knows the feeling of having a young person ripped from the world.
"You'll never go back to the life you had before you lost your loved one,” another speaker said. “You'll never go back. This is the new normal."
It is that pain that helps inform the families on ways to solve this seemingly revolving problem.
"If you make sure that your mind is strong, your mind is tight, your mind is right, ain't nothing you can't do,” one man told the crowd. “That's us. That's what we got to do."
If that's not convincing — consider this. Face after face, story after story, kid after kid taken away.
They stood up so that maybe someone else won't have to do the same.
If you have information about any of these cases that could help detectives, call Crime Stoppers at 804-780-1000 or submit a tip online at www.7801000.com. The P3 Tips Crime Stoppers app for smartphones may also be used. All three Crime Stoppers methods of contact are anonymous.
This is a developing story, so anyone with more information can email newstips@wtvr.com to send a tip.
