‘Their faces still need to live on’: Grieving families plea for an end to gun violence in Indianapolis

INDIANAPOLIS — Time and time again in Indianapolis, city leaders call gun violence in the Circle City “unacceptable.” But when the dust settles after deadly gunfire, only one thing changes — the lives of victims’ families.

Some aimed to take back the streets of Indianapolis Saturday afternoon, filling the near east side with the same message — gun violence is unacceptable.

“If I can put a stop to any mother feeling the way that I feel today, I just want to do that,” said Nadine Patterson, one of the “Stop Killing Our Kids” rally’s organizers.

On the walls at the event were photos of kids, teens and young adults whose parents haven’t stopped telling their stories.

“He was on his way to being a star,” said Jameka Webster, whose son JaSean Harris was shot and killed in 2019. “He was in talks with the record labels, with signing. He told me, ‘Mommy, give me a year and we’ll be out of here.’ I don’t think I’ll ever go back to who I was before that day.”

Webster’s son never did make it out of Indianapolis. Patterson’s son left Indianapolis for Houston when he was 19 years old.

“His first little trip he had paid for and planned all on his own,” Patterson said. “He went down to visit a kid that he had grown up with here.”

Even though he had left Indianapolis, Patterson’s son was still a victim of gun violence.

“He was sitting in a car one night and some people pulled up,” Patterson said. “They just started shooting.”

It’s a unique kind of grief these mothers say nobody else could understand. So, they found each other. Now, four years into a support group that’s grown from five to more than 300 members, called “A Part of Me, Our Angels’ World.” They say it takes a village, but it’s bittersweet to welcome new members because all that means is another young life lost.

“We try to go support them through finding out to even after they close the casket,” said group founder Monique Ray, whose son died of a heart condition in 2020.

No matter how their loved ones were lost, all are welcome. The group realizes even those who pulled the trigger have people who love them just the same.

“It’s also hard for that family,” Webster said. “We know that two families are ruined when something like that happens.”

Every so often, they raise their voices hoping the ones who need to hear their message are listening.

“Those that you take from us, they are at rest,” Patterson said. “They are at peace. It’s those of us that survive that have to live day-by-day without our loved ones.”