Your life can end in a matter of seconds. No one expects their death, especially at a young age.

But....In this city, anything can happen.

In this city, young men and women find family in the streets. They have that ride or die mentally, where they will fight for the streets or die in the streets. There are no ifs, ands, or buts about it.

It is the family that suffers the most, a mother and father, will always love their children until the day they die, so when their child is taken away from them I can't even imagine the pain that they go through.

In this city, parents lose their children to the streets often. It seems like almost every day now we lose someone we love. It is unexpected and it is horrible when you get a call saying they are gone.

It must be a dream, you can't imagine anything like this happening. It must be a dream.

But it is not...it is the sad reality of our city.

Our city needs to be saved, but in order for it to be saved, we the people must come together and help save it. There is no other choice. You can leave, you can hide, but you can never unsee the bloodshed on our streets.

It is all senseless....murders.

A man will never be able to look his fiancé in the eye and say "I do". He will never be able to see his children grow up and his mother, sisters, and brothers will never be able to hear his laugh or see his smile.

Imagine the pain his family is going through having to say goodbye....forever.

It is all senseless…

When sitting in your own house isn’t safe. A stranger (or a friend) decides to take aim, taking one man’s life and severely injuring a woman and killing her unborn child.

This man will never be able to see his loved ones again. He will never be able to hang out with the boys again, dancing, laughing and joking around like the old days.

This young woman will never be able to touch her child and see it's smile every morning and every night. She will never be able to be a mother to her child but only feel the pain of losing a child, an experience no parent ever wants to go through. She is still fighting for her life with all her loved ones by her side.

It is all senseless…

When driving down the street, coming to a stop and seeing your life flash before your eyes. You're still breathing. You look for help as blood oozes out of your body. You get tunnel vision as you drift in and out of consciousness. Now, all you see is the blank stares as trauma doctors rush to stop the bleeding. You lie motionless, in pain, but alive.

This man does not get to go home and feel the warmth of his beds or the loving comfort of his family and it is unknown if he ever will. I cannot imagine what this man was feeling or thinking as bullets went through his body, it is something no one should have to imagine or experience.

All in a matter of days, our city streets have been stained with more blood than it has all year.

These men and this young lady, are no different than you or I. It could have easily have been one of us in a casket or in a hospital bed.

If you believe it or not, the ones we have lost in these past few weeks and all that we have lost this whole year from violence, drug abuse, and even domestic violence will forever be in our hearts and live on with us in spirit.

I want to say that our city has had its faults but that should not define who we are. We have bright young men and women in this city that can make a difference. We should not let what has happened in the city take that from them.

To the children and parents of the lost, I may not have known them but not matter what, no one deserves what had happened to them. It was not a natural cause, cancer, or accident. It was a person, a monster that took them away from you.

I pray for justice, for peace, and for love to all who have lost this year. We need to stay strong and come together and change our city’s fate. It is for the future of our children.

Fly High Joshua Cintron 11/28/2016

R.I.P Dominic Colona 12/02/2016

R.I.P Donavin Yenser 12/7/2016

The city is praying for the man who was shot in his vehicle on the 1200 Block of Chestnut street, as well as the loss of Shandll Lopez's unborn child, and for Shandll's full recovery, and for those that we lost from the use of drugs, and domestic violence. R.I.P Becca Weller 9/24/2016.