Just after 5:30 p.m. Monday, Myrna Ford joined more than 500 people walking down the hill from the Muslim Community Cultural Center of Baltimore to Leon Day Park, where 12-year-old Khloe Ishway was fatally shot before a youth football game Saturday.
For Ford, the gathering carried another layer of grief. Her son was killed in gun violence in 2013, down the street from where she stood Monday. Now she was walking in memory of her niece.
“I have a granddaughter. … Her and Khloe went to school together,” Ford said. “I wish we could just get a grip. … Somebody needs to say something because we need closure.”
Parents held their children close as the crowd walked toward the West Baltimore park. Some wiped away tears and embraced one another while holding signs that read, “Justice for Khloe.”
Other signs and the backs of T-shirts read, “Forever twelve.”
The peace walk honored Khloe, whom police said was a bystander in a shooting that stemmed from a dispute over a parking spot.
“I would love for the city to do better,” Ford said.
Jacqueline Howell-Coleman, Khloe’s grandmother, said she was angry and filled with rage.