Gun Crisis Report: Families come together to remember couple killed this time last year

Families come together to remember couple killed this time last year Posted: 15 May 2013 10:30 AM PDT Family members and friends gather on the 200 block of Sparks Street in the Olney section of  Philadelphia on Tuesday May 14, 2013, for a vigil to remember murder victims Latia Jones  and Rodney Ramseur Jr. who were gunned down while sitting on a porch of a home on Sparks Street  near 3rd Street on a rainy night in May of 2012 by a still unknown gunman who shot them at close  range according to investigators. Tuesday night at the vigil a crowd of about 50 people gathered in  prayer with Latia's mother Alvita Jones, her grandmother Delores Davis, her aunt Amanda Davis  and Rodney's mother Nicole Hyman to release balloons in remembrance of the young couple.  The two mothers, during an interview with NBC 10 made an appeal for anyone with information  about these murders to step forward and contact police. Alvita Davis went on to say "to the killers  I'd like to say: I hope your mother's enjoyed her Mother's Day - because I didn't enjoy my  Mother's Day. You took my Mother's Day away from me. I pray that your conscious bothers  you to the point that you'll come forth and be a man and say what you've done. GunCrisis.org/  Joseph Kaczmarek Alvita Davis, left, and Nicole Hyman,mothers of murder victims Latia Jones and  Rodney Ramseur, Jr., embraced after releasing balloons  with about 50 other people during a vigil held in remembrance of the couple Tuesday night on Sparks Streets in the Olney section of Philadelphia. Photographs for the Gun Crisis Reporting Project by Joseph Kaczmarek. Jones and Ramseur were killed by an unknown gunman on a rainy night last May while sitting on the porch of a home on Sparks Street near 3rd Street. Investigators say they were shot at close range. The two mothers made an appeal during an interview on NBC10, asking anyone with information to step forward and contact police: “I didn’t enjoy my Mother’s Day. You took my Mother’s Day away from me,’ said Davis, adding that she will pray that conscience will lead the killer to “come forth and be a man and say what you’ve done.” Slideshow: Families come together in remembrance. Photographs by Joseph Kaczmarek. Latia Jones and Rodney Ramseur Jr. Vigil Latia Jones and Rodney Ramseur Jr. Vigil Latia Jones and Rodney Ramseur Jr. Vigil Latia Jones and Rodney Ramseur Jr. Vigil Latia Jones and Rodney Ramseur Jr. Vigil Latia Jones and Rodney Ramseur Jr. Vigil Latia Jones and Rodney Ramseur Jr. Vigil Please share your ideas to stop the shooting in our community by using the #phillypeaceplan hash tag when communicating on social media: http://guncrisis.org/phillypeaceplan/ If you want to get involved in gun violence reduction in Philadelphia, please consider volunteering with or donating to one of the organizations under our Network tab. If you would like us to add your group to our list, please email us at info@guncrisis.org. Send to Kindle

Overnight gun violence report Posted: 15 May 2013 09:32 AM PDT Two men and a woman were wounded by gunfire during a 12-hour stretch overnight, and police opened fire on a man they say aimed a gun at them in another incident. In the case of the first shooting, medics rushed a 39-year-old man to Temple University Hospital, where he was reported in stable condition. The victim had been shot twice in the leg on Redner Street near 24th and Oxford Streets in North Philadelphia Tuesday night. Police transported a 21-year-old man to the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania after he was shot twice in the area of Yewdall and Arch Streets in West Philadelphia shortly before 8 p.m. A 29-year-old woman was reported in stable condition at Temple after she was shot in the hand just before 8 a.m. Wednesday on the 2400 block of West Oakdale Street in North Philadelphia. All three victims were reported in stable condition. Police opened fire on a man they say drew a gun during a foot pursuit in West Philadelphia, missing the suspect but making the apprehension on Kershaw Street near 50th Street in the Parkside section of the city. Officials say officers stopped the man for a possible curfew violation, according to 6ABC. View Overnight gun violence reports: 05.15.13 in a larger map. The Gun Crisis Reporting Project is an award-winning, independent, nonprofit journalism community striving to illuminate the epidemic of homicide by gunfire in Philadelphia — and to find solutions.