NORTH CHARLESTON, SC (WCSC) -
Family members of shooting victims gathered in front of North Charleston City Hall on Thursday for a prayer vigil and to speak out against recent gun violence in North Charleston.
The families were joined by members of the National Action Network, who also spoke out against recent violent crime in the city.
Recently, five people died in just five days after deadly shootings in North Charleston.
“He was just a joyful young man," Melvina McTier said. "He made my life very happy. I’ll never be the same again.”
McTier is the mother of Dewitt Cohen, who was killed Wednesday morning after he was shot in North Charleston.
"I don't even know how to function right now," LaSha Hamlet said. "It's hard, it's very hard."
Hamlet is the cousin of Brenden Wright, who also died earlier this week after a North Charleston shooting.
Families gathered in front of North Charleston City Hall on Thursday to call for a safer community.
"Y'all, we've got to do better," Carnecia Gillard, another cousin of Brenden Wright, said. "We've got to love each other. We've got to learn to talk through situations and just squash whatever is going on."
Elder Johnson called on city leaders to work harder. He pointed to guns on the street as one of the biggest problems contributing to the recent killings.
"I want Mayor Summey, Reggie Burgess to hear this: There are too many guns on our streets," Elder Johnson said.
Family there Thursday were grieving over the loss of their loved ones, but a lot of them were also worried about violence in North Charleston hitting even closer to home.
"you've just got to protect them the best you can and just hope and pray that it's not your son," Hamlet said.
The five deaths happened in four separate incidents.
Two of those incidents occurred on Sunday.
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