Two communities are calling for an end to gun violence after two recent deadly shootings in Florida City and Homestead.
Police say Kentarian Cross shot and killed Johnny Stevenson in Florida City Tuesday. Minutes before, investigators say several girls were fighting, including Stevenson's daughter, and he tried to intervene. Cross turned himself in Wednesday.
On Sunday in Homestead, police say someone shot and killed Martavious Ezell. A suspect hasn't been arrested in his murder. His mother, Pamela Ezell, believes someone knows who killed her son.
“I never thought in a million years that I would be burying my son,” Ezell said. “My son was born on 11th Avenue and he died on 11th Avenue, so if you know something, please say something, because this is a pain no mother wants to feel.”
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Ezell's son was an entrepreneur and always had a smile on his face. All he wanted to do was take care of her and his three kids.
“His kids was the joy of his life,” Ezell said. “You don't have to call me, call Crime Stoppers, tell somebody, so this person who took my baby life can serve justice.”
On Friday, both communities rallied behind Ezell and other grieving families for a “put the guns down” rally organized by Pastor Natasha Lee.
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“This has been going on in our community far too long,” Lee said. “This is a plea, if we can get some necessary resources in here that can help with our youth, if we can get some type of assistance to help these mothers.. perhaps we can get ahead of the problem before it gets to this point."
Florida City commissioners, school officials, Homestead and Florida City Police also joined the call for change.
“Those are our friends, family members and so everything that goes on in Florida City, these are the people it starts to affect,” Florida City Commissioner Walter Thompson said.
“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,” Florida City Mayor Otis Wallace said.
State Rep. Kevin Chambliss met with commissioners, Miami-Dade school officials and police at Homestead High School Friday to come up with solutions to move the communities forward. He hopes to take ideas back to Tallahassee.
“We're beginning to identify some things we know we need, whether that's more resources for programming that targets young girls and boys, but also looking at different models elsewhere that work when it comes to safety not only in our classroom but also on our buses,” Chambliss said.
