Over the past two decades, Derrick Townsend has been a constant presence in the Oakland City neighborhood.
He’s watched many children grow up, including Lamon Freeman and Jakody Davis.
At a Wednesday evening candlelight vigil, Townsend and more than 50 others gathered at the West End Apartments where the two 13-year-olds were gunned down. Freeman was just minutes into his birthday when he was killed.
“They were our babies. These are young men that won’t have a chance to even explore what they could have been,” Townsend told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution after a balloon release.
Around 12:30 a.m. Tuesday, Davis and Freeman were shot while hanging out on the steps of an apartment building near Dimmock and Peeples streets, police said. A 12-year-old boy was also shot and had to be hospitalized.
Tiwana McCoy, Freeman’s cousin, told reporters after the shooting that someone had walked up to the boys and opened fire. The first bullet struck Davis, who was sitting on the steps, and Freeman was hit as he walked out of an apartment, she explained.
Police did not say if Freeman and Davis had been targeted or if investigators had identified any suspects. A $50,000 reward is being offered by Crime Stoppers Atlanta for information on the case.
Credit: Atlanta Police Department
Credit: Atlanta Police Department
Townsend, who is the CEO of Hopeful Change and provides mentoring and mental health services for children between 12 and 17, has been working in the Oakland City neighborhood since 2000. He said his focus now is on providing the youth with the skills to overcome the tragedy and feelings of hopelessness that come along with it.
Aside from seeing Freeman and Davis around the neighborhood riding their bikes and laughing, Townsend said he knew the two boys through their involvement in programs he and his organization funded. He described them as kids with bright futures.
“They were young, brilliant minds trying to navigate and explore life. Unfortunately, they were cut down before they had a chance to really, truly grasp the scope of what life looks like,” he said.
Rev. Darryl Winston with Greater Works Ministries did not know the victims personally but said he was devastated for the boys’ families.
He was involved in bringing faith leaders to Wednesday’s vigil and described the neighborhood as a “mission field.” He and other organization leaders regularly come to the neighborhood to provide residents with food, school supplies and other resources.
“Unimaginable grief to see two mothers burying their (sons)..., and one on his birthday. It’s hard to fathom that. It can’t be normalized,” Winston said.
Townsend, Winston and Shanan Jones, president of The Concerned Black Clergy of Metropolitan Atlanta, say gun violence in Atlanta has become an epidemic. Jones framed the violence as a “public health issue” and believes that in order to reduce crime, we must start to explore what leads to crime.
Atlanta police said Tuesday as they began to clear the crime scene that the area is a “gang stronghold.” In response to that characterization, Jones emphasized the necessity of rebuilding the neighborhood through maintaining a robust presence of city and organization leaders and bringing resources to the community itself.
“We need to rebuild the village,” he said. “The village has largely become destroyed because everyone is just trying to make it.”
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