A few dozen families gathered in Hartford’s Sigourney Square Park Sunday to remember those who have lost their lives to gun violence over the years, including Carol Dorsey, who spoke publicly for the first time about the death of her son back in 2010.
“He never had a life,” said Dorsey. “He don’t have any children. Nothing. Nothing. He was just beginning to get really get himself together where I could say ‘oh, he’s going to go somewhere now.’
Organized by the local chapter of Mothers United Against Violence, the annual event remembers the close to 500 people killed in Hartford since 2000.
”You see the list over there,” said Henrietta Beckman, the chapter president. “It’s very heartening to see all those names, all those young people’s lives that have been lost.”
Beckman lost her son Randy in 2002.
”It just does something to you when you lose a child,” said Beckman. “It never goes away, but I continue to do what I do.”
”We want them to be able to tell their stories because often times these stories are never heard,” said Reverend Henry Brown, a community activist. “We understand that urban violence has a different perspective to it than suburban violence but every life matters.”
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Brown say regardless of how tough it gets, they will not give up the fight.
“We’ve done it for 14 years, and we’re going to continue to fight as long as we can to make sure that justice is served here in the urban community,” said Brown.
According to Hartford Police, there have been 11 homicides so far this year.
