Precious Lives

Stories about kids, guns and how to stop the violence. Precious Lives, created by 371 Productions, is a 2-year, 100-part weekly radio series about gun violence and young people in the Milwaukee area. The series applies a public health lens to each story to help listeners understand the full scope of the problem: who are the victims and the shooters; how are the weapons obtained; and what can we change about the environment that contributes to violence in Milwaukee?

#005 Precious Lives: The Pick-Up Game

WUWM 89.7 FM

Published February 10, 2015 at 10:50 AM CST

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Anthony Barksdale returns to the park for the first time since his friend Marcus DeBack was shot there in 1995.

James Gutierrez

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Kids playing basketball at a playground at N. 55th and W. Wright street where 9-year-old Marcus DeBack was shot in 1995.

Emily Forman

Milwaukee was shocked two decades ago when nine-year-old Marcus DeBack was shot and killed on the playground. Anthony Barksdale was there that day. Even as an adult, Anthony can’t erase the pain of Marcus’ death.

It’s still fresh. He drives by the park daily, thinks about stopping, but never does. Until now...

For information about Designated Trauma Facilities in Milwaukee County, visit PreciousLivesProject.comfor a list of locations.

Corresponding Content:

Milwaukee Journal Sentinel - Before playground tragedy, shots were fired but no one hurt