PORTSMOUTH, Va. - "Portsmouth and its citizens are worth saving" — That was the message at Thursday night's vigil honoring the city's homicide victims of 2023.
The Portsmouth Police Department partnered with Third Baptist Church for the Community Prayer Vigil calling for peace and reconciliation.
Portsmouth Police say 39 people were killed in 2023 homicides. That number is down from the previous year, 2022 when the city saw 42 homicides.
"But we still had 39 too many," Chief Jenkins said after the prayer vigil.
According to the News 3 Homicide Tracker, there were nearly 14 in the first two months of 2023.
“Those homicides in my opinion were nothing more than domestic terrorism in our city committed by cowards," Chief Stephen Jenkins told Portsmouth City Council in a September meeting following the murder of a 31-year-old woman.
One mother who was at the vigil is still grieving the lost of her son, Keith Alexander Wright, who was shot and killed in August 2023.
"This is my youngest son Keith," Michelle Johnson said. "His death was so senseless. It was over jealously. The person that killed him was someone he grew up with."
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Hampton Roads 2023 Homicide Tracker
Johnson says her son's killer has not been caught.
"I grew up in Portsmouth and raised some of these children that are killing each other, and I don’t understand," Johnson said. "My son’s life was put out so early."
Several families who lost loved ones to gun violence filled the pews of Third Baptist Church and held candles for the 39 people killed in 2023 homicides.
"Portsmouth is worth saving," Portsmouth Mayor Shannon Glover said.
The pastor of Third Baptist Church, Joseph Flemins, says his church has been impacted by the city’s homicides.
"We have seen mothers bury their children so the church has to stand with families," Flemins said. "We have grieved over and over again, whether we have done it in this sanctuary or in funeral homes."
The most recent homicide came at the end of November, when an infant girl was reported unresponsive and pronounced dead at the hospital. In the weeks that followed, investigators determined the death to be a homicide and the girl's parents were charged.
There were no homicides in December. So far in 2024, the city hasn’t had any homicides. This is a trend police say they would like to continue.
