More than 100 people gathered at a Milwaukee church Sunday night for an event they wished was unnecessary—an annual vigil for individuals killed in the city this year.
According to Milwaukee police, homicides are down 24% from this time last year and down 39% from two years ago. But the number killed in 2024 — 130 — is still far above many other years this century.
Gun violence remains the leading type of homicide.
Also, murders of juveniles have dropped only slightly this year. Tanya Green, the mother of Amera Wallace, who died at age 17 in a July mass shooting at Dineen Park that also wounded seven others, told Sunday night’s vigil at Ephesians Missionary Baptist Church that losing her daughter initially left her contemplating suicide.
“And I started asking people what’s the easiest way to kill myself. And the devil will still put it on your mind. But the devil is a liar,” Green said to applause. She said her faith in God has kept her going.
Lillian Collins’ adult son, Marvin Davis, was shot to death on the south side in July. Collins also said she was despondent.
“God will get y’all through your pain. You gotta believe and trust. Because when I cry and don’t call on God, sometimes I think of taking myself out. But then I gotta call on God and he pulls me right out of it," Collins said, to applause.
Ephesians Church Rev. Raymond Monk urged everyone who has lost a loved one this year to monitor their mental health and perhaps seek counseling—just as they would go to other professionals to heal their bodies.
"If God gave the dentist wisdom, he gave the physician wisdom to help you in your time of ache. He’s also given to you and me other individuals to help us when we’re mentally and emotionally off-kilter," Monk said.
The local nonprofit Health Connections is one of the agencies offering to connect people in need with mental health professionals.
