About 200 attend Stop the Violence prayer march

Clutching a handmade "Pray for Justice" sign, Scott Johnson pointed south to explain why he joined roughly 200 people who set out on a Stop the Violence prayer march Saturday morning.

"My 15-year-old sister Shakiela was murdered by her 16-year-old boyfriend a few blocks that way," he said.

The march, organized by Stop Needless Acts of Violence Please, or SNAP, began in Indian Park and ended at Ranney Park in Cape Girardeau, stopping along the way to pray and pay respects at sites where people were killed.

Johnson's sister was slain in 1992, but many of those commemorated during the march had died within the last five years. Johnson, who runs Soulful Harvest Ministries in Cape Girardeau, said even in the face of violence, marches such as Saturday's show others the spirit of the community is not broken.

"This is us, approaching the violence in the city and the nation with a civil mind-set," he said. "I think this is what we're going to have to do. This is a concern for everybody, not just a few select."

Stop the Violence marchers walk across Highway 74 on Saturday on the way to Ranney Park in Cape Girardeau, the final stop on the prayer march organized by Stop Needless Acts of Violence Please.Fred Lynch

The procession made its way up William Street, to the spot where Zatrun Twiggs and Detavian Richardson were shot dead in a car.

Twiggs' mother, Pam Robinson, wore a memorial T-shirt and agreed to address the crowd.

"My son had a wife," she said. "They were both good children. We love them and we miss them ..."

Choking up, she quickly handed back the microphone to Felice Roberson, and the march continued up William Street.

Robinson's brief remarks were a reminder the people killed by violence were more than headlines or case numbers or statistics. They were people with families; killed by violence in their own community.

Reg Roberson places two crosses on posts Saturday during the Stop the Violence prayer march in Cape Girardeau. Detavian Richardson and Zatrun Twiggs were shot to death while in a car in the 200 block of South Middle Street on Aug. 3, 2014.Fred Lynch

As Pastor Byron Bonner later pointed out, the walkers were made up of an array of individuals. Black and white, young and old, rich and poor, they all prayed together.

One man even walked with a guitar, strumming and singing about crying angels and the glory of God.

Police Chief Wes Blair walked with them in civilian clothes. He said the walk is an encouraging sign.

"When we first pulled up this morning, we were completely impressed," he said. "How cool is it that all these people are here? We can come together to make a better place."

Cape Girardeau police have worked with SNAP since their inception about 10 months ago to coordinate outreach.

The marchers stopped Saturday at the house where 6-year-old Markell Beasley of Jefferson City, Missouri, was shot to death Dec. 24, 2013, on South Hanover Street in Cape Girardeau.Fred Lynch

"If people see something that doesn't look right, let us know," Blair said. "Be watchful."

Scottie McMullen, principal of Central Academy, Cape's alternative school, knew several people being commemorated -- the entire first half of the itinerary, in fact.

Throughout the walk, he tried to help his son, Nate, understand the morning's purpose. But recalling how someone liked to do the moonwalk sounded much easier than making sense of violent crime, or how a murder case could go unsolved for years.

"I think [the march] is a really good start," he said, but added the problem from his perspective has to do with frustration. "It has to do with showing [at-risk youths] alternative solutions to solving their problems."

Structure at a young age, he said, is key.

Others, including organizer Roberson, said cooperation is an important first step. Standing at the site where her son, Quinton Combs, was slain late last year, she addressed the crowd.

"Sixty people were here. No one would talk," she said. "We got to talk. Even if it's hard, still talk. We can be a voice for those who don't have a voice."

tgraef@semissourian.com

(573) 388-3627