COVINGTON, Ky. (WLWT/LEX18) — A northern Kentucky high school student is making waves with her attempt to stop gun violence.
After experiencing a loss of her own, 15-year-old Camia West created a video that is now being shared hundreds of times online.
"I just feel like guns should be harder to get a hold of," Camia West told WLWT in Cincinnati.
She is the voice and brains behind the video urging an end to gun violence, especially in teens and children. The video is a product of a school assignment to create a commercial for a big problem in the community. She told WLWT that the topic was a clear choice.
"Some of these kids didn't get to graduate," West explained.
Her main inspiration behind the video is her friend, 18-year-old Ke'Ovion Seay known at "Keeter."
"He was funny, and he was just a good person," Camia West told WLWT. Her brother Cameron, also a friend of Seay, added, "He had a really good heart. When I watched it, it brought tears to my eyes, cause that was my best friend."
Seay was shot and killed in Covington back in August just weeks after graduation. His family believes he was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time.
"He was a leader. I look at him like the CEO of the whole group. He kept everybody together," said Seay's best friend, Dreyshon Thomas.
Now instead of pursuing his dreams, Keeter's face is on t-shirts. His friends and older brother are joining Camia West in her call to action to end the kind of violence that took his life all too soon.
"Change for the community, so we can stop the violence, instead of just talking about it," Cameron West told WLWT.
The NAACP plans to recognize Camia West's work at their Freedom Fund Gala this Saturday.
