GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — Neighbors came out in dozens to stand together, hold each other and remember the lives lost in their neighborhood at a peace vigil held in the Burton Heights neighborhood where three people were found dead on Monday.
"We grieve their loss. We feel their pain, but we cannot live, walk in their shoes. All we can do is send them our prayers and our love," said Fran Dalton, a community organizer from the Garfield Park Neighborhood Association.
The crowd was welcomed by remarks on the strength of their neighborhood and the need to support one another as the families of Anayia Rodriguez, Malik Eubanks and Darryl Yarber, the three victims who were found shot and killed on Monday, continue to wait for answers.
The neighborhood is hoping the vigil will have a part in the long process of healing.
"We needed to have a gathering, and we needed to give people a chance to come together as a community to heal, to comfort each other, to find some peace in this whole awful situation in the community of their neighbors," Dalton said.
Grand Rapids Police Chief Eric Winstrom said the kindness shown at the vigil is what their community should be known for, not the violence it experienced in recent days.
"This neighborhood is known for what you saw tonight. It's good people that care about the neighborhood," Winstrom said.
Winstrom said he thinks the vigil isn't just important for the community, but also for the mothers of the victims.
"I really can't stop thinking about the two moms that I met tonight, and how important it was for them to see this neighborhood come up and stand with them," Winstrom said.
As candles were being lit, a man began to sing "Amazing Grace" and was joined by the rest of the crowd. A moment of silence came after, with Pastor Daniel Smith of Messiah Baptist Church of Grand Rapids praying over the event and the neighborhood.
"We hope that our prayers, our presence, has been helpful to some of these families, some of these neighbors, and to always let them know that you're not by yourself," Smith said.
Winstrom said he knows the community wants their area to be a safe space for their children and that GRPD detectives are working hard on the case.
"I will say every neighborhood that I've been to has that same feeling for me in Grand Rapids that the adults want this to be a safe place," Winstrom said. "They want to be able to have their kids, their youngsters, out without the fear of being hit by a stray bullet, without the fear that they're going to lose a child."
Smith said that the turnout showed what the neighborhood was about.
"A lot of people from different backgrounds, different aspects of life, coming together for one common cause, and that's just to show some love and advocate for one another."
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