'Keep praying until something happens': Ocala group organizes march, decries gun violence
Women, men and children, carrying foam boards displaying pictures of loved ones, took to the streets Thursday afternoon in what organizers hope will be a wakeup call for residents to band together and end gun violence in Marion County.
Roughly 35 people, mostly women, met at Howard Academy Community Center, 306 NW Seventh Ave., where they formed a circle and joined hands in prayer.
Kimberly Pompey Wilkerson, head of War Cry 4 Peace, a local organization that for nearly a decade has been comforting families whose loved ones were killed by a firearm, was the event coordinator. She said the walk was designed to support families affected by gun violence and also honor the life of Ajike "AJ" Shantrell Owens. Last month, Owens was shot and killed by Susan Lorincz, who has been charged with manslaughter.
Wilkerson said she's asking "God to invade our communities and the region so hearts can be turned toward God."
There has been an uptick of shootings in the city and county. On Wednesday, a man was shot at a gas station when someone tried to take his vehicle. Authorities said he's expected to recover. A few days before, a 30-year-old man was shot and killed. Several weeks ago two males, ages 17 and 18, were shot and killed. Those cases are still being investigated.
The march
After the prayer, the group made its way to the street, turned right and walked toward West Silver Springs Boulevard. Dragging a wagon that contained a speaker and microphone, Pastor Darrell Tolbert of L-Jireh Ministries Inc. Church offered words of inspiration on the estimated mile-and-half journey.
Two Ocala Police Department officers escorted the walkers.
Tolbert said the community needs to make a difference before the gun epidemic consumes the city.
From the boulevard, the group turned right and walked to Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue. Along the way, Sophilia Givens-Nunn, pastor at Anchor Church of God, was given the microphone. She said: "We need a praying community" and called for "a healing."
Monique Weeks said her brother, John Marcus Weeks, 33, was shot in the back of the head and killed by a 16-year-old in February. Weeks said although her brother is from Marion County, he lived in Alachua.
Weeks said she was walking in honor of her brother. She said it seems picking up a gun is the easiest way for some to solve their problems.
"We should discuss our problems," she said.
Charnelle Gibson, who previously attended a protest march after Owens was killed, said there needs to be a change. The change, she said, will come from prayer.
"The whole thing that's going to change the history of the violence is prayer," Gibson said.
She's urging the community to remain vigilant and to "keep praying."
"Things," she said, "don't happen overnight. Keep praying until something happens."
The fact they were more women than men in attendance didn't affect Lywanda Bell, whose cousin, Telba Burton, was shot and killed in Marion County in 1990.
Bell said while she would've "liked to see more men, we have to do what we have to do because someone has to do the work that God requires us to do."
From Martin Luther King Jr. Avenue, the marchers turned right onto Northwest Fourth Street. Vehicles driving by honked their horns, occupants waved their hands in approval, and residents came outside to give a thumbs up.
Ocala courts: Prosecutors say Anthony man murdered his girlfriend. Defense says she committed suicide
From Fourth Street, the marchers made their final turn to Northwest Seventh Avenue and walked to the community center.
Huddled together, they prayed for safety and a healing for the community.
Contact Austin L. Miller at austin.miller@starbanner.com or @almillerosb
This article originally appeared on Ocala Star-Banner: Ocala Prayer Walk's message: Gun violence needs to end now
