Durham held a vigil for those killed by guns in 2022. Hours later, another was dead.
Editor’s note: Eight hours after this vigil, Durham had another fatal shooting. That person’s name has been added to the list in this report.
A single white balloon was passed to Keshia Gray on Friday afternoon, a symbol of the 43 lives lost to gun violence in Durham this year.
“I won’t release it, because the fallen victims are still with us in our hearts and our minds,” Gray told The News & Observer. “It stands for peace and love. That’s what we’re about.”
Gray is the program manager of Bull City United, an outreach team that’s been working to prevent gun violence in Durham since 2016.
The group lost one of its own this year: Reshaun Cates was gunned down on an Interstate 85 off-ramp in October. He was just a few days from his 45th birthday.
On Friday, the city held a ceremony at CCB Plaza downtown to mark the annual Day of Remembrance for Gun-Related Homicide Victims. Similar events, coordinated by Mayors Against Illegal Guns, were held in a dozen other cities, including New York, Chicago and Charlotte.
Though overall gun violence in Durham is on a two-year decline from a record high in 2020, the number of fatal shootings is on the rise.
“Each time one of our citizens are taken from us, the heart of our city — the very beating of it — is affected,” Mayor Pro Tem Mark-Anthony Middleton said.
As of Dec. 31, the Durham Police Department had recorded 770 shooting incidents, with 247 people shot, 41 of them fatally. The discrepancy in statistics is because some of the shootings were deemed justified, a police spokesperson said.
How Durham is fighting gun violence
A relative held a poster board with a photograph of Cates softly smiling and wearing his Bull City United sweatshirt. The anti-violence initiative has been one of the county’s most public efforts to combat gun violence from a public health perspective. Violence interrupters like Cates attempt to de-escalate conflicts and reshape attitudes around gang life.
“We choose to be part of the solution,” Gray said. “We will beat gun violence.”
Gun violence has been frequently discussed among Durham leaders, including Mayor Elaine O’Neal and Police Chief Patrice Andrews, as they grapple with shootings and a shortage of police officers to investigate them.
Earlier this month, the city launched ShotSpotter, a year-long gunfire detection technology pilot program that leaders hope will get first responders to shooting scenes faster.
O’Neal hugged each member of the Bull City United team in attendance Friday.
“The call to action today is really simple,” O’Neal said. “Love conquers all.”
She recited grim statistics of an epidemic disproportionately affecting Black and Latino communities.
“Every year, nearly 40,000 Americans are killed with guns and 85,000 Americans are shot and wounded as a result of gun assaults, unintentional shootings, attempted suicides and shootings by law enforcement,” O’Neal said. Just over half the fatal shootings are suicides, national statistics show.
“As we prepare to transition into 2023, we stand and pray and hope that not one other person is lost in this manner,” she continued.
The several dozen people gathered on the plaza on the warm winter afternoon spent a moment in silence after the 43 names were read.
“For each of these families that we read the names, there is a place of silence in their family,” Middleton said. “And we want them to know that that silence is not just felt in their households, but it is felt in this city, our city.
“May their memories be a blessing.”
People shot and killed in Durham
At least 45 people were killed in Durham by guns in 2022. Here are their names:
- Jalen Mills
- Tony Smith Jr.
- Charles Piquet
- Tony Person
- Aaron Bailey
- Elijah Everett
- Israel Njuguna
- Aldamon Boykin
- Janavious Tate
- William Green
- Hironori James
- Emily Montes de Oca
- Daniel Slack
- Tylen Baldwin
- Jose Cabrera
- Karla Jaramillo Noyola
- Raheem Clark
- Bradley Clay
- Jabari Williams
- Kenneth Hawley
- Jeremiah Dixon
- Yazmine McDougald
- Shyhiem McCaskill
- Rodney Burnett
- Derek Ortiz
- Brian Davis
- Derek Sterling
- Wahid Downey
- Marcus Ortega-Burch
- Anthony Giles
- Jivon Cherry
- Guadalupe Ordoñez-Alejandro
- Quaron Zaffa
- Reshaun Cates
- Karizma Mebane
- Julie Lindsey
- Michael Spears
- Demario Metts
- Reginald Parker
- Tyler Young
- Alexis Yandel Hernandez-Nuñez
- Terrance Brown
- Denis Allen Sosa-Gomez
- Ainzargul Totakhil
- Raishawn Jones
This story was originally published December 30, 2022 at 7:56 PM with the headline "Durham held a vigil for those killed by guns in 2022. Hours later, another was dead.."
