‘Our children are hurting’: Peace walk rallies community against youth violence

More than 100 residents joined a peace walk Saturday on the city’s far east side to raise awareness and rally the community against the growing issue of youth gun violence in Indianapolis.

“Our children are hurting,” said Antonia Bailey, one of the participants. “They’re being raised by parents that are hurting and have no clue what to do.”

Bailey knows that pain personally.

This week marks the fifth anniversary of the murder of her 16-year-old son, Nicholas, and 15-year-old daughter, Ashlynn. The two Lawrence North students were shot and killed by another teen in their home as they got ready for school on the morning of Aug. 23, 2019.

“We have to do better as a community with wrapping our arms around our children, because they’re our future,” Bailey told a group of marchers before they set out from the Boys & Girls Club near West 38th Street and North Post Road. “Right now, when I look at it, it looks real bleak. And when I look at our future generation that’s going to be taking over, I have so much hope that it’s not always going to be like this.”

The person who shot her children was himself only a child at the time. He is now serving a 40-year prison sentence.

“I made the decision to forgive and have then spoke life into that young man,” Bailey said.

Although homicide totals have dropped since peaking in 2021, killings of people under the age of 18 have steadily risen in the past few years, according to data from the Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department.

Indianapolis police investigated 25 homicides during 2023 in which a person 17 years or younger was killed. Speedway and Lawrence police handled three additional youth homicides.

Those who participated in Saturday’s mile-and-a-half peace walk Saturday pledged to push back against that trend.

“Oftentimes, the light in our community flickers because we see so much violence on the television and on the news,” said Pastor Darryl Webster of Emmanuel Missionary Baptist Church and the Indianapolis Urban Pastors Coalition. “Today is a great example of the light shining through.”

“The source is deeper than the symptoms and we can’t treat it with just policies alone,” Webster said. “Policies are good, but that ain’t going to treat all of the symptoms. We also need people, and we need the spiritual component.”

A three-wheeled motorcycle group called the Indy 3s led the march. Among the group’s members is Denise Bonds, whose 25-year-old son De’Rell Brown was shot and killed at his apartment complex Jan. 25, 2021. His homicide remains unsolved.

“The hardest part is not having any closure,” said Bonds. Her Spyder motorcycle is covered in photographs of her son, a U.S. Army veteran. The dates of his birth and death are written on her helmet.

“Please think before you pull the trigger,” she said. “Please think of the devastation.”

The walk culminated with a community fair at Pathway Resource Center at Amber Woods Apartments. There were food trucks, a DJ and a bounce house. The fair included workshops on de-escalation, conflict resolution and mental health. Other services such as immunizations and dental care were also provided.

The event was sponsored by state Sen. La Keisha Jackson, who is CEO of Pathway Resource Center, and Boys & Girls Clubs of Indianapolis, led by City-County Councilor Maggie Lewis. Marion County Prosecutor Ryan Mears, Marion County Public Health Department Virginia Caine, Indianapolis City-County Council President Vop Osili and multiple other city councilors also participated.