LEXINGTON, Ky (LEX 18) – After a violent start to 2018 a group in Lexington is marching for peace and an end to gun violence.
The dozens who walked along 5th Street near Duncan Park on Saturday were hoping to make a difference Lexington.
Anita Franklin has been planning walks for peace since her son, Antonio Franklin, was shot and killed by a bullet unintended for him in 2014. Franklin is hopeful that marches like the one on Saturday will create a safer Lexington fro the next generation.
"Kids lives matter, our children’s lives matter and they’re our future, " Franklin said.
Jackie Shannon, whose grandson, Tyler Williams, was killed in 2017, was at the march for similar reasons.
"I’m going to stay optimistic. I never thought I’d see the day when Tyler would go the way he went but things happen, " Shannon explained.
Lexington has had ten homicides since the start of 2018. Anita Franklin says warmer weather usually means more violence, so she’s acting now.
"We want them to know they need to live in peace so they don’t have to say rest in peace, " Anita Franklin said.
Franklin already has another walk planned for June.
