Candlelight vigil to honor victims of violence in Willow Run community
Willow Run community residents plan to join hands in prayer Sunday to remember victims of violence during a candelight vigil in Superior Township.
The 6 p.m. event is being held in the MacArthur Boulevard neighborhood, where 30-year-old Jamar Gardner was fatally shot last month after a fight.
Washtenaw County sheriff's deputies investigate a fatal shooting on MacArthur Boulevard last month.
File photo
Participants are expected to hold white candles at the corner of MacArthur Boulevard and Stamford Road as the names of victims, including Gardner, are read.
“I’m just tired of losing so many young lives to just senseless foolishness,” said Joi Jenson, a Willow Run Board of Education member who is one of the event's organizers.
Five homicides have occurred since 2004 in the MacArthur Boulevard neighborhood. Last summer, Washtenaw County sheriff’s deputies launched a crackdown on crime there after calls for service nearly doubled over a five-year period.
Just this week, a shooting occurred near the intersection of Clark Road and MacArthur Boulevard. A 24-year-old man was shot in the abdomen, and police arrested his father.
The vigil honors victims in that neighborhood, West Willow and other areas of the Willow Run community.
Derrick Jackson, the sheriff department’s director of community engagement, said the department supports any event where residents are "taking ownership of their community."
Trische Duckworth, a former Willow Run community member who also is organizing the event, said it’s time for people to come together to address the problem.
“The solution is empowerment,” she said. “Letting people know they do have hope.”
Lee Higgins covers crime and courts for AnnArbor.com. He can be reached by phone at (734) 623-2527 and email at leehiggins@annarbor.com.
Comments
someguy734
Sat, Feb 27, 2010 : 1:58 a.m.
the guy who was just killed is originally from ann arbor, and he was breaking up a fight and some punk shot him how crazy is that? you cant break up a fight anymore??
Atticus F.
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 1:59 p.m.
David, I consider Chicago to be the gilded city... On the outside it's all bright and shiny. But on the inside it's rotten to the core... with a history of segregation, haves and have nots, organized crime, and corruption.
tdw
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 1:57 p.m.
@David not sure what "kid" you're talking about the 24 yr old was shot ( not fatially )by his father so I highly doupt is was a drug deal.AS for the 30yr old who was killed you should note that two of the charged was a mother and her son.In both cases it appears its another case of an argument where one party decides to shoot the other to settle a dispute
Griffen
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 1:15 p.m.
Stevek, I don't think you understand what I said. Being poor and disenfranchised contributes to being on the wrong side of the law because folks have less to lose. Especially, if youre ignorant, illiterate, and thrust together with other folks who are exactly the same. 10 to 1 that the reason this kid is dead as a result of drug dealing gone bad?! Chicago, corrupt? Probably, but it is a city that works, unlike Detroit! Once more Chicago learned from its mistakes and the scattered site housing program is WORKING.
uawisok
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 11:43 a.m.
Some sound advice here and vigil gives it 5 minutes of exposure but the reality is solutions come down to personal resposibility.
Atticus F.
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 11:35 a.m.
@David, the McAurther neighborhood used to be called "The Danburry Green" if I remember correctly. Also, I agree with you about Chicagos Neighborhoods. People around here often look to Chicago as a model of what A2 should become. When in actuallity, it's disturbingly corrupt, and is also one the the most segregated cities in the united states next to New Orleans.
stevek
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 11:22 a.m.
@David---being a criminal is not a direct result of being poor. I would rather have all the criminals in one area instead of spreading the violence throughout the county.
Griffen
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 10:47 a.m.
The MacArthur Boulevard neighborhood is an isolated poor hood with a high percentage of criminals. It is a direct result of aggregating the very poor into a housing communities (projects), instead of integrating them into the community via scattered site housing. This situation reminds me of Chicago's Cabrini-Green, a notorious project that proved just how bad this type of arrangement really is for the poor. The Mac Arthur projects like Cabrini-Green needs to be dismantled.
Atticus F.
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 10:37 a.m.
Hopefully the vigil will help give peace to some of the family members who have lost loved ones to violence. As far as teaching children in the neighborhood to handle conflict without violence, I can agree with that... But we should also have programs in place to teach the disadvantaged in our communities life skills, like how to write a resume, register for school and student loans, and job interview skills.
young b/m
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 9:43 a.m.
God bless the Green!
Sarcastic1
Fri, Feb 26, 2010 : 9:24 a.m.
Forget the vigil. It will accompish nothing. Teach your children how to handle conflict withhout violence.