PORTSMOUTH, Va. — May 2 was the 2024 National Day of Prayer. For 73 years, faith groups have been coming together to pray for their communities.
In 2024 in Hampton Roads, some of that prayer was focused on addressing the issue of gun violence, something tragically highlighted by the death of a 10-year-old less than a week earlier.
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The amphitheater at Portsmouth City Park was full of people and praise Thursday.
While the National Day of Prayer is an annual event, Portsmouth community activist Darrell Redmond felt it was especially significant in 2024.
“The city needs prayer, the community needs prayer," Redmond said.
Redmond is the founder of Give Back 2 Da Block and was scheduled to speak Thursday to students at Craddock Elementary in Portsmouth.
Ten-year-old Keontre Thornhill was a student there before he was hit and killed by a stray bullet fired into his home April 26.
The event was rescheduled because of the National Day of Prayer.
“I was going to ask people how do they feel inside of their communities," said Redmond. "Because one thing that needs to be out there is that when we’re trying to address problems inside our communities, we need the evidence and facts from the kids in the communities that we live in. Then, just to instill hope. Asking them what do they think they need to feel safe inside their communities."
Watch: Darrell Redmond shares his thoughts on kids and gun violence
There are no shortage of headlines about gun violence in Portsmouth.
“I heard my kids screaming and all of that," Thornhill's father, Arvis Scott, told News 3 April 29. "I was yelling in the phone, asking what was going on. But as I was yelling, I heard mom in the background crying, too."
In the previous 12 months in Hampton Roads, 21 kids had been shot and killed.
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There have been other victims, like eight-year-old Landyn Davis, who was shot but survived.
“We all need somebody," New Mount Olive Baptist Church Pastor Jonathan Foster said.
The Chesapeake church reached out to help Thornhill's family and planned to have a prayer event Thursday night, praying for the family and for all the struggles people are going through.
“National Day of Prayer, moments like this, it’s a paradox, especially with the tragedy of the young man in Portsmouth," Foster said. 'It tears people apart, yet it brings us together."
"As of Thursday, police had arrested one person in connection with the Thornhill's death and were still looking for another person they said was a person of interest.
