Two cities, Homestead and Florida City, have recently had tragic killings that have prompted calls for a halt to gun violence.
According to the Florida City police, Johnny Stevenson was fatally shot by Kentarian Cross on Tuesday. According to police, Stevenson attempted to interfere minutes earlier when he saw multiple females fighting, one of them was his daughter. Wednesday was the day when Cross surrendered.
Martavious Ezell was fatally shot on Sunday in Homestead, according to the police. No one has been taken into custody concerning his murder. His mom, Pamela Ezell, thinks someone has information about her son’s murder.
“I never in a million years thought that I would be burying my son,” Ezell said. “If anyone knows anything, please speak out, because this is the kind of pain no mother wants to feel. My son was born and died on 11th Avenue.”
A cheerful entrepreneur, Ezell’s son was a joy to be around. He was only interested in caring for her and his three children.
“The happiness he felt came from his children,” Ezell remarked. “Rest easy; just contact Crime Stoppers or someone else so that the killer of my unborn child can face the consequences for their actions.”
At a “put the guns down” demonstration led by Pastor Natasha Lee on Friday, members of both towns came together to support Ezell and other bereaved families.
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Far too long has this been happening in our town, Lee lamented. “This is a call to action, if we can secure the resources that are sorely needed to assist our young people and these mothers, maybe we can prevent this problem from escalating.”
In addition to the Homestead and Florida City Police, the Florida City Commissioners and school administrators also joined the demand for reform.
“Those are our friends, family members and so everything that goes on in Florida City starts to affect these people,” said Walter Thompson, the city commissioner.
According to Florida City Mayor Otis Wallace, “every time I hear about one of these incidents, it’s for something totally stupid, something that’s not worth the death on one side, incarceration on the other.”.
On Friday, at Homestead High School, State Representative Kevin Chambliss convened a meeting with commissioners, Miami-Dade school officials, and police to brainstorm ways forward for the communities. He intends to return to Tallahassee with concepts.
According to Chambliss, “we’re beginning to identify some things we know we need,” such as allocating more funds to programs that specifically target girls and boys, and exploring successful safety models in other schools and on buses.
