Following Tuesday鈥檚 drive-by shooting in Hartford that claimed the lives of a young mother and her infant son, violence prevention advocates 鈥� who are all too familiar with gun violence 鈥� say it鈥檚 time for a change.
Janice Hill and other members of Mothers United Against Violence gathered near the scene of the shooting that killed 20-year-old Jessiah Mercado and 4-month-old Messiah Diaz.
Hill lost her son, Alford Grayson, in a 2015 shooting. This week鈥檚 news brought back painful memories.
鈥淚t鈥檚 hard when you gotta grieve the death of a child. It鈥檚 hard. It鈥檚 not easy,鈥� Hill said. 鈥淚 don鈥檛 care how long or how many years it happened 鈥� the hurt comes back, because you鈥檙e reliving. When you hear somebody else鈥檚 child got murdered, and a baby got murdered, that brings that hurt back again.鈥�
Henrietta Beckman leads Mothers United Against Violence. She, too, lost a son to gun violence. Randy died in 2002.
鈥淭hese two young people did not deserve this,鈥� Beckman said. 鈥淭hat baby had his whole life to live. His mom had her whole life to live.鈥�
鈥淚 mean, a 20-year-old and a 4-month-old? Come on, y鈥檃ll,鈥� Beckman said.
The Rev. Henry Brown, a shooting survivor himself, called on Hartford residents to come together to stop gun violence.
鈥淭he siege is upon this community,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淲e鈥檝e got to do better for one another. We鈥檝e got to really put our ankles in the ground and say, 鈥楴o more with this stuff right here. It鈥檚 gotta stop.鈥� Because the only way we鈥檙e gonna stop this stuff 鈥� and I hope people are listening to me 鈥� is through the people in the community.鈥�
Hill said the shooting deaths of the mother and son 鈥� the 18th and 19th homicides of the year in Hartford 鈥� should be a wake-up call for residents to get involved in violence prevention.
鈥淪top sitting in your house saying, 鈥極h, it ain鈥檛 my child,鈥欌�� Hill said. 鈥淚t one day can be your child. You gotta come together, work together. We are a community.鈥�
Beckman says the community is best positioned to help stop the killings.
鈥淎 lot of us know when someone is going to commit a crime,鈥� Beckman said. 鈥淚f we see something or hear something, say something.鈥�
Responding to so many shootings takes its toll, Brown said. As he walked away from reporters Wednesday, he expressed frustration.
鈥淚 have to deal with this all the time,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淚鈥檓 sick of it.鈥�
