Robert 'Say' McIntosh Foundation holds prayer vigil for 2024 Little Rock homicide victims

LITTLE ROCK, Ark. – On Wednesday, members of the Robert 'Say' McIntosh Foundation spent the first day of the new year remembering people who were killed in 2024 and the victim of the city's first homicide of 2025.

Derotha McIntosh, founder of the Robert ‘Say” McIntosh Foundation, says every year they plant white crosses in the ground to represent the number of homicides that happen within Little Rock.

LRPD officials reported 37 homicides in 2024

“These crosses are the number of the lives that are taken foolishly by homicides,” McIntosh said.

On the first day of the new year, they held their prayer vigil where they released balloons, spoke about the importance of the crosses before they removed them at the end of the event.

However, they still had to place one in the ground because of the 2025 New Year’s Day shooting that police said killed a boy.

“I feel very empty and hurt because this is the emblem of someone's loved one,” McIntosh said.

Around 12:30 a.m., New Year’s Day, officers with the Little Rock Police Department responded to a shooting call at Olympia Court.

When officers arrived, investigators said they found two victims, a woman and man, suffering from gunshot wounds. The third victim was a boy who was pronounced dead at the scene.

Pulaski County SGT. Willie Davis brought a group of young boys he mentors to the vigil, wanting to share that violence is unacceptable.

“Let's not wait until number 32 or 33 to get concerned about violence in our city.” SGT. Davis said. “Let's talk about how we're going to move forward in terms of making our city safe programs and conversations.”

McIntosh hopes they will place less crosses in the ground and people will begin to choose nonviolence.

from KARK https://ift.tt/LKdXSAs