‘Bring love and joy.’ Lexington neighborhood has prayer vigil for park shooting victim
When Sara Donkin heard gunshots come from Pine Meadows Park nearby her Lexington home, it was 2 p.m. on a Wednesday, and her two kids were home.
Scared, Donkin called the police to report what she heard. That afternoon, police would discover the body of 16-year-old Christopher Valdez who died from a gunshot wound near Tazewell Drive.
Donkin admitted she was fearful, and thought about never returning to the park that her kids play in and she walks in. However, she prayed and felt differently — she and her neighbors needed to do something to “change the frequency” to a positive and make sure people felt welcome in the park and their neighborhood.
“Originally I was very scared. Very scared,” Donkin recalled. “Then I prayed to God for safety for everyone here and I wanted to do something positive in response to that.”
Sunday afternoon, Donkin, her family, city officials, Pine Meadows residents and family members of Valdez gathered in the park for a prayer vigil to “bring and love and joy” to their community. People were encouraged to draw uplifting messages with chalk.
Jennifer Reynolds, council member for District 11, said she felt sad and burdened when she heard of Valdez’ murder.
“All these things go through your mind about, ‘What could we have done to prevent this?’ But there aren’t answers many times,” Reynolds said. “Though I can assure you that I work with a ton of wonderful people who are trying to figure out how we can better reach the youth in our community and then respond.”
Pine Meadows resident LaMonte Nowlin said the murder was a “terrible moment,” but felt the tragedy should motivate people to help others and do more in their communities.
“This has touched so many people and we need to stay motivated to do more,” he said.
Victim’s sister: ‘He was a good kid.’
Valdez’ body was reported to officers by a nearby resident of Pine Meadows Park hours after the shooting happened, according to the Herald-Leader’s news-reporting partner WKYT. Police said officers found Valdez while searching the area.
Two other juveniles were injured in the shooting, according to police. One was taken to a hospital with a gunshot wound while the other later arrived at a hospital, also with a gunshot wound. Police have not released any suspect information.
Valdez’ sister, Carmen Garcia, said her brother was a good kid, and only God knows why this happened to him.
“There is a lot of people speaking bad about my brother,” she said. “It is just cheap talk from people that didn’t know him. They are just words. But he left us an example, he left us a good legacy and his leaving us hurts.”
Garcia asked for prayers to continue his legacy, and asked for anyone who knew what happened to her brother to come forward and report information.
Valdez was headed into his senior year at Lafayette High School, according to Fayette County Public Schools spokeswoman Lisa Deffendall.
Alberto Carrillo, pastor of the Bethel Spanish Church, said he knew Valdez for 15 years. Carrillo said Valdez was a hard worker, and very faithful.
“We lost him, but we win by giving him to Christ,” Carrillo said. “The Lord knows what he was doing, and we need your prayers.”
Investigators are asking anyone with information about the case to call Lexington police at 859-258-3600. Anonymous tips can be submitted to Bluegrass Crime Stoppers by calling 859-253-2020, online at bluegrasscrimestoppers.com, or through the P3 Tips app available at p3tips.com.
The neighborhood will host a cookout on August 5 at 5 p.m.
