NEW ORLEANS (WGNO)— The group Silence the Violence says the City of New Orleans must do something about the violent crime problem.
Among the group’s members is a pastor, who just lost her son to gun violence.
“To see our kids getting killed daily on the street… I mean, it’s multiplying, it’s tripling, it’s out of control,” Christiana Ford, the mother of a homicide victim, exclaimed.
Christiana, the pastor of House of Faith Non-Denomination Ministries on Elysian Fields Avenue, gathered alongside members of the group Silence the Violence at her church to demand the city’s attention after her son, Lamar Ford, was killed on August 5 right in front of the church.
So far, no arrests have been made.
“If you would kill an animal, a dog, a cat, they would have caught this man,” Christiana said. “They gotta crime camera out there, and you tell me right in front of my door and they don’t know who did this.”
In 2017, Lamar took a plea deal and pled guilty to manslaughter and attempted possession of a firearm.
He was released from prison a few years ago, and according to an attorney who once represented Lamar, he was on the right track.
“He was doing great,” David Capasso, an attorney and church congregant, said. “He was working with the church. He was forgetting about those demons, but they were out there.”
Christiana is calling for a joint effort between both elected leaders and community leaders to end the violence.
“We can do it if we come together because I don’t want another mother have to go through what I’m going through,” Christiana said.
If you have information about this crime, call NOPD Eighth District detectives at 504-658-6050, or if you wish to remain anonymous, call Crimestoppers of Greater New Orleans at 504-822-1111 or toll-free at 1-877-903-STOP.