ST. LOUIS – A local organization prepares for their annual candlelight vigil for local murder victims, keeping the memories of loved ones alive as 2023 comes to an end.
Mothers Advocating Safe Streets is the organization that recognizes victims who lost their lives to violence this past year in St. Louis City and County. Leaders say they are pleading for the violence to end.
Mothers Advocating Safe Streets is on a mission to continue to raise awareness about violent crimes.
“We know how important it is to reach out and be with the families because we know the turmoil they go through when losing a child,” said Sharon Webb, founder of Mothers Advocating Safe Streets.
Webb and Shelia Price have both lost children to gun violence.
Webb’s daughter, Cara Davenport, was killed in St. Louis in 2000. She was 18 at the time and a senior at Hazelwood West High School. Police say she was shot in a car and was not the intended target.
Price’s son, Charles McCoy Jr., was shot and killed in 1996. Police have still not determined a potential motive or any suspect information in that shooting. Both cases remain unsolved.
The organization is preparing for the annual New Year’s Eve candlelight service to remember all of the murder victims this year in St. Louis City and County. It’s a night usually set aside for celebrating, but some are in pain.
“It’s been a journey to meet other mothers who have lost their loved ones to violence,” said Webb.
The vigil comes on the heels of a deadly shooting Friday morning in north St. Louis. Police say a woman was found deceased with a gunshot wound near Dr. Martin Luther King Dr. and North Kingshighway Blvd.
And just days before Christmas, a woman was found murdered in the Wells-Goodfellow neighborhood, shortly before midnight. Police found the woman’s body in the living room, near the front door of the home.
As of Friday, the current number of homicides in the City of St. Louis stands at 157 for 2023, which is down from more than 200 homicides reported in each of the last two years.
The candlelight service is planned from 4-6 p.m. Sunday at Williams Temple Church of God and Christ.
