March to end gun violence

TYLER — Tyler residents got together on Saturday to march for an end to ongoing violence in the community after a local 5-year-old boy was recently shot.

“Recent acts of violence have shaken our community and left many families asking difficult questions about the future of our neighborhoods,” Smith County Justice of the Peace for Precinct 1 Derrick Choice said.

“When innocent children become victims of violence, it is a reminder that the consequences of conflict extend far beyond those directly involved. They reach into our homes, our schools, our churches, and our collective sense of security.”

Saturday’s Tyler Community Unity Day events started at the Texas African American American Museum at around 11 a.m. when residents started a peace walk to Woldert Park.

Family members of gun violence victims, like mother Latoya Bowie, hoped the event would convince others to just walk away before turning to violence.

“Whatever issue you have, choose to please walk away because you’re leaving a disarray of families and loved ones that would never be changed. Their life would never be the same. My life would never be the same with the loss of my son,” Bowie said.

Bowie’s son Keundas Jamoure Sansford, 32 of Tyler, was killed in a shooting while he was attending a party at a Smith County club in March.

Justice of the Peace Choice called on the community and the media to come out to Saturday’s Unity Day event. Choice believes the city has broken the silence in the fight to end gun violence.

“There comes a moment in every community when silence is no longer an option,” Choice said. “Today, I believe Tyler has reached that moment.”