Lexington’s mayor and mothers who have lost children to gun violence are pleading for less gunfire. Their call comes during National Youth Violence Prevention Week.
Mayor Linda Gorton offered a straightforward message in calling for safe end-of-year school celebrations and a safe summer.
“I ask young people to put down your guns,” said Gorton.
Priscilla Sandifer spoke about the death of her daughter Amaya, an innocent bystander who was fatally shot last May while dropping off a friend to a party. She said it’s a daily trauma.
“It’s almost been a year, but I still wake up in the middle of the night and thinking that I’m hearing her walk up and down the steps or I’ll wake up and call her name out while I’m asleep,” said Sandifer.
Deana Howard’s 19-year-old son Sean was killed in August of 2017. She said he was not the intended target. Howard called it a permanent solution that doesn’t have to be so permanent.
“You don’t affect that person when you take them. When you take that person and you settle your score that you think you’ve settled, they don’t suffer anymore. The people that are suffering are the families that are left behind,” said Howard.
One Lexington Director Devine Carama said youth violence prevention pulls him in lots of directions. But, when he thinks of the strength of survivors and, quote “how they carry that weight with eloquence and purpose, power…it cuts my pity party short real quick.”
From 2021 to the first quarter of this year, Lexington experienced a 75% decrease in gun-related homicides among youth and young adults. Still, Carama said year-end school gatherings and summer months can be particularly dangerous.
Here's the entire news conference at Lexington City Hall 04-25-23:
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