Candlelight vigil to honor families affect by homicide

3 years ago 251

DOWNTOWN JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – A candlelight vigil Saturday nighttime astatine Metropolitan Park brought unneurotic Jacksonville families affected by homicide. This is the 3rd yearly lawsuit hosted by Compassionate Warriors Inc.

For these families, it’s different time without their loved ones.

They came present to grant and to retrieve who they are, contempt the mode their loved ones were taken from them.

Ralaunda Bray’s son, TraDarius Alexander, was a unfortunate of unit successful Jacksonville.

“I was blessed with 18-years and present I person to unrecorded the remainder of my beingness without him,” Bray said.

She came to Metropolitan Park Saturday to beryllium with families successful situations similar hers. They honored homicide victims to what they said was senseless unit successful the city.

The families of homicide victims transportation the value of losing them. For some, they can’t assistance but retrieve what happened to their loved ones.

“Every greeting erstwhile I aftermath up, each nighttime erstwhile I spell to furniture he’s ever connected my mind.,” Bray said. “I inactive cry, the symptom is inactive the same.”

Some of their cases were met with much violence, immoderate cases unsolved, others person families uncovering ways to get justness for their loved ones. But still, they amusement up to this vigil.

Rhonda Phillips mislaid her son, Leon Bennett, successful 2018.

“We didn’t get afloat justness for my son,” Phillips said. “I inactive basal present warring for justness for everybody who’s mislaid their children.”

The household is honoring him done a instauration called Bennett’s dependable for change.

They assistance children who mislaid parents to weapon violence.

Phillips says her lad is what keeps her encouraged.

“It conscionable gives maine each ounce of vigor to conscionable beryllium everything that I tin and beryllium his voice,” Phillips said. “Every time is simply a fight. Every time you aftermath up you enactment your feet to the crushed and each time I accidental wherefore and each time I perceive my lad accidental ‘Momma you tin bash this’.”

“It’s bittersweet, it hurts,” Bray said. “But astatine the extremity of the time I person to marque the champion of it.”