Residents in south suburban Harvey came together on Saturday for a special vigil to honor homicide victims.
They said alarming numbers show there have been around 90 homicides in the past four years in the small community of six square miles south of Chicago.
Even more alarming, they told NBC 5 that less than two dozen of those murders have been solved.
"It hurts," cried Latrice Mahome, who attended the vigil. "It hurts."
Feeling out of the loop? We'll catch you up on the Chicago news you need to know. Sign up for the weekly Chicago Catch-Up newsletter here.
Mahome is the mother of 16-year-old Taaj, who was shot and killed in May of 2021.
"I am heartbroken," sobbed Erikka English, Taaj's aunt.
Another mother, Kentnilla Blackful, has a hole in her heart that won't heal. Her daughter, Kentavyia, was shot by a stray bullet in September of 2019 and later died on what would have been her 12th birthday.
Local
"I try to keep myself together for my children. Everyday is a struggle," she said.
Kentayvia, who won all kinds of awards at a young age, had a bright future that was cut short.
"She was on the basketball team, she said she was going to be the first female president but she wanted to be on the WNBA also," said her mother.
Both homicides are still unsolved, leaving the mothers without answers.
They joined several other victims' families and Harvey residents at Gloria Taylor Park, pleading for more to be done.
"It starts at home right now, but I also think the city has to help do their part to make sure we have enough police officers," said Anthony McCaskill, one of the organizers of the event.
"Because it is not their kids or niece or nephew or family member, nothing is happening, she is just another little Black girl gone to violence," said Blackful.
A poem read outside by a 16-year-old sent the tone for the vigil.
"I blame it on the people that turn a blind eye, the ones that shed a tear but stand idly by," she said.
The vigil was also a way to help the community heal.
“Today I want to dedicate it to Ezra Hill Junior. Today makes four years since his murder," said, another organizer, Ebony Phillips and founder of Let Us Live.
Together they remembered other victims of homicide whose cases are still unsolved as well.
The victims' families said they just want one thing.
"Justice," said Mahome.
"I am not giving up justice," said Blackful.
