Joliet ‘Voices of the Village’ pledge to end gun violence

About 30 people gathered for an hour Saturday in Joliet to take a stand against gun violence.

They met in the 300 block of Des Plaines Street, where Manuel Mejia Perez, 13, was found dead on June 2. He had been shot twice in the chest.

Trista Graves Brown of Joliet, founder of Speak Up, a community-based, grassroots organization, organized the event called “Voices of the Village,” for people to take a pledge to “Stop the Violence, Save our Children.”

“We gather here today because there’s a desperate cry to save a child,” Brown said at the event.

Brown reminded attendees that just two years ago Antoine Shropshire, 16, ofJoliet, died after he was shot 25 times.

“We are acting as a village to take the power out of the streets and back to the parents and the community,” Brown said.

Goals of “Voices of the Village” include monthly prayer vigils, community safety walks and bi-weekly town hall meetings.