MEMPHIS, Tenn. — The final Ride of Tears of 2021 happened Thursday to honor the parents of children whose lives were taken this year due to gun violence.
Over 60 children have been killed in Memphis in the last two years and many people have had enough. This year, 31 kids were killed in the Bluff City.
The ride began at 2:45 in the parking lot of the former Crystal Palace on South 3rd Street.
“We have parents that don’t have closure and are not going to have closure because they’re losing their babies. It is not just that easy to have closure when losing a child,” one community leader said.
On Thursday, you could see a big caravan all over town leading the Ride of Tears as locals make their voices heard.
It visited several neighborhoods where kids have been killed this year including King Street in Orange Mound where 12-year-old Artemis Rayford died after a shooting on Christmas Day. His family is still reeling from the loss.
“Hard, devastating, it’s some stuff we got to live with for the rest of our lives, so we just try to be around our loved ones to help us get through it,” Doneisha Eddings said.
This year, Memphis has had at least 340 people murdered, a record year for violence in the city.
Memphis police told us that they have solved nearly 65% of the city’s homicides this year, but there are families still waiting for justice.
If you know anything about an incident or shooting, call CrimeStoppers at (901)-528-CASH.