We are tired of killing​: Jacksonville mothers gather to remember loved ones lost to violence

Jacksonville families came together Saturday to remember their loved ones lost to violence.

Many of them wore shirts with different faces on them, but they shared the same pain.

“There’s not a day, not a minute, not an hour, not a second, that I don’t think about my son,” Catherine Ivey said.

Ivey’s son, Richard Key, a father of three, was killed in 2012. Melinda Busch lost her son Ha’keem in May of last year.

He had four children.

“It just hurts me to have to look at my grandchildren. You know? And know they are hurting,” Busch said.

Ivey and Busch were among many family members who gathered at Families of Slain Children Saturday to celebrate their loved ones' lives and support one another.

“I can feel the love in the air. It’s just good to be here. It’s good that we can come together in spite of such sorrow,” Katrina Cook said.

Cook said Beverly McClain​ with Families of Slain Children and other community members have given her strength since her son, Brandon Webb, was killed in March.

She and several other mothers called for anyone with information about their sons’ murders to come forward.

“Give these mothers, give myself, some relief in our minds, in our hearts,” she said. “Because we’re dying out here. It’s ridiculous. It has to stop.”

The event took place on the last day of National Crime Victims' Rights Week. Another event was held at Greggs Temple A.M.E. Church in Jacksonville Saturday.

Cox Media Group