Crime victims' families seek answers, justice, peace

Feb. 5—GRANITEVILLE — Several local families rocked by murder were the focus of attention at a gathering at Aiken County Recreation Center, amid an hour-long program remembering victims and seeking input to help reduce local gun violence.

Prayers, tears, memories and offers of support were part of the gathering, in connection with National Gun Violence Survivors Awareness Week, and featured speakers included North Augusta resident Tyesha Simmons. "I'm speaking in honor of my family and my brother, Travis Smith," she said. "Travis was murdered Sept. 29, 2012, in North Augusta."

Simmons shared the story of how Smith was shot dead in a pre-dawn encounter with two hooded men. "It's been 11 years. Travis' case is still unsolved. They have no motive. They have no suspects."

She described her brother as humble, "very sarcastic," kind and an unlikely target for violence. "I just go around and speak just to try to keep his case alive and keep his memory alive, and I just hope that people will continue to be proactive in the community. Don't forget the people who have lost their lives ... It's a lot of unsolved cases in Aiken County, and we must not let this die."

People with knowledge regarding criminal activity should step forward and share it with the authorities, she said, asserting that "no amount of information is insignificant ... no matter how long it's been."

Another "survivor story" came from Judy Duncan, who lost a son, Jeremiah Duncan, to gun violence Feb. 4, 2020. "It's been devastating for myself and my family," she said, noting that Jeremiah's murderer is now in prison.

"Even if you have not experienced standing in my shoes ... you are supporters to us, and we really, really appreciate that. That means so much. It kind of makes us feel that we are not alone," Duncan said, addressing an assembly of about 32 people.

"I would like to see our community become more involved, because this is about saving our community. This is about saving our children, and we need one another ... We're to be our brother's keeper, and if we join together and be our brother's keeper, we're going to help make our community a better community."

The months of investigation into Jeremiah's murder "seemed like forever," she said. "I stayed on top of law enforcement, and I realize they had a job to do, but it seemed like every week, I was calling the detective ... and they were doing their job. When I found out they were going from city to city, looking for leads, it really impressed me."

Reading the post-investigation report was an eye-opening experience, she added. "It's not always good to listen to what you hear, because people just don't know, and I'm thankful for our law enforcement."

Her voice cracked as she noted that "some people ... die and never know what happened to their loved one, but I want you to know there's a God that knows, and He sees, and I want you to know vengeance is always coming to that individual."

Duncan noted that plans are coming together for a youth festival to be held in June, with emphasis on reaching "children from age 4 to 16," with fun, games and heavy emphasis on mentors, teachers and counselors to teach kids about gun violence.

"We have to make them aware, because if we don't educate our children while they're young ... then the streets will, so that's my heart's desire, for the loss of my son."

Her audience included representatives of Aiken County Sheriff's Office and Aiken Department of Public Safety, along with Al Jenkins, a regional representative of Sen. Tim Scott. Jenkins, who is from Goose Creek, described himself as coming from a family "with multiple generations of losses to gun violence."

Jenkins said the senator, a native of North Charleston, is seeing some positive results from an innovative effort to work with non-profit agencies to engage young people and their mothers "to try to bring attention to this hurt and harm ... before something happens," in terms of reducing further violence.

Also speaking was the Rev. Christopher Holley, with Four Mile Baptist Church, in New Ellenton. He encouraged his listeners to take a stand against a culture in which "the love is gone."

"Love of self, the love of brothers and sisters and each other, love for our community, respect for the community, respect for our seniors — all of that has dwindled," he said.

Offering guidance from the Bible, he shared the story of Nehemiah, who "had people that had struggles and issues ... going on, but they set that to the side, to continue doing the work that was before them."

Holley added, "Too many times, we get involved with things, and then when it gets inconvenient for us, we fall away. We have to learn to push ourselves to the side, and sometimes sacrifice of ourselves to make sure that we meet the cause that is at hand. It's not just going to go away. We have to change it."

The pastor encouraged his listeners not to "get comfortable living among murderers," and to steer clear of the "no snitching" mindset. "If we see something, we have to say something. If we're going to get the community back, if we're going to get a strong foothold in our community, we have to root out all of the bad apples."

He recommended Crime Stoppers, a national program that receives tips to help law enforcement crack criminal cases. Citing the Duncan case, he noted that investigators got a tremendous boost from some who had an inkling of what might have taken place and stepped forward to share it.

Holley, recalling the still-unsolved Simmons case, pointed out that the homicide took place 11 years ago. "Somebody knows something, so to help bring closure, we need to make it comfortable again to see something and to say something."