DETROIT (WXYZ) — As two families grieve the loss of their children, community activists in Detroit are mobilizing in hopes of slowing violence in the city.
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Monday, representatives from seven different Community Violence Intervention (CVI) teams held a press conference at Skinner Playfield on the city’s east side.
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“We are tired and we are sick of this deadly disease. This should not have happened,” said Quincy Smith, who is the executive director of Team Pursuit.
The press conference comes after a shooter gunned down 18-year-old Daviyon Shelmonson-Bey and 4-year-old Samir Grubbs at the park near Denby High School over the weekend. The shooting happened Friday around 6:20 p.m. in broad daylight.
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A 17-year-old was also injured in the shooting. Their condition is unknown at this time.
Parents of both deceased victims attended the press conference, pleading for community members to speak up.
“You took him away from me and his dad like he was nothing and he was everything,” said a tearful Jasmine Grubbs as she remembered her son Samir.
Grubbs says her son was set to start pre-K this fall and was a fanatic for Spider-Man, like most kids his age. Grubbs says that on the day of the shooting, she took her son to the park on what was her only day off because he loved being there. The toddler was shot while climbing a ladder on the playscape just minutes after they had arrived.
At the press conference on Monday, Grubbs held on to one of her son’s toy cars that she says keeps showing up in her bed. She and her other five children are now working to cope with what feels like a nightmare.
“All my kids are my pride and joy, but you took my son that already had beat the odds. They said my son would never walk,” said Grubbs. “They said he was going to have speech problems, all kinds of problems, and he overcame all of that.”
The family of 18-year-old Daviyon Shelmonson-Bey says the 18-year-old was just hanging out at the park when the shooting took place. Witnesses told his father the 18-year-old pushed a friend out of the way of the gunfire that afternoon, saving their life but taking two bullets himself. His father, Joseph, says it’s not surprising given his son’s character.
“Our spirits hurt before, but I never experienced nothing like this before. It’s unique. I really can’t explain it,” said Joseph Shelmonson-Bey.
Shelmonson-Bey says his son was a creative kid who loved photography and had so much ahead of him. He’s now asking anyone who saw the shooter to come forward.
“As a community, we just need to do our jobs as well. Speak up and not be quiet about it, not hold back information. Speak out so we can deal with this,” said Shelmonson-Bey.
All seven Detroit CVI groups mobilized on Monday, going door-to-door with information on youth programs and in hopes of getting more community members involved in prevention efforts. They say they're also hopeful to find information on the shooter. Their message: Protect the Zone.
“If you see it's kids out here, control yourself. You do not have to get that person that bad where you harm our babies and cost them their lives before they even understand what they living for,” said DuJuan “Zoe” Kennedy of Force Detroit. “If you fire a weapon and you know kids are outside, you are no different than a person who will sexually or physically abuse them, and you should be treated as such.”
Activists also called on legislators to fund public safety and prevention in a more robust way. They say that at this time, their programs have not been properly funded, and it’s costing lives.
“Schools, churches, playgrounds: off limits. It’s a peace zone period,” said Teferi Brent with Dignity for Detroit. “Quit playing politics with Black people's lives. This ain’t no damn game. This ain’t no partisan issue. This the most nonpartisan issue on the face of the planet. If y’all can’t get this right Republicans, Democrats… if y’all can’t get this right, you ain’t worth a damn.”
As of early Monday afternoon, Detroit Police were still working to make an arrest in the case. If you have any information about the shooting, you’re urged to call Detroit police or Crime Stoppers at 1-800-SPEAKUP, where you can remain anonymous.
