Women who suffered loss invite Philadelphia to join Inter-faith Peace March

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When someone is killed by gun violence, it affects more than the victim. An entire family feels a major loss. Two women, suffering losses, invite Philadelphia to join the Inter-faith Peace March.

"It's very painful, very hard. We're still not used to not having him with us," Elsa Alicea said.

Alicea and her family are still grieving the loss of her son Louis, shot to death when he was 29-years-old. Nearly two and a half years later, his murder remains unsolved.

"I really want to know what happened. It was too many cameras around where it happened," Alicea added.

Louis had just gotten a haircut at a barbershop at B and Allegheny November 18th of 2016. Elsa says she was told her son was standing outside waiting for a friend to come out when someone shot him.

She says the case is cold.

"Whatever it was, what it was for, why they did it. Just come and say you know, because I know somebody saw," Alicea said.

Elsa, Louis' father and his sister remember him as a father of five children and says he came to have coffee and breakfast with his mother every day.

"He was a happy kid. He helped everybody," she states.

Louis' cousin, Jessie Alejandro, has hosted peace walks to keep her cousin's case public. She's organizing another one in three weeks, to address all of the recent murders.

"We realized since 2012, the homicide crimes have increased," Alejandro says. "We can give a statement to the city that we are seeking for justice, seeking for peace. Families are tired. People are tired of losing their children."

Carmen Pagan is also helping organize the Inter-faith Peace Walk. She lost her brother Richard Davila in 2016.

"Today's his birthday. I went to visit him. This is the second time I've been able to go to the cemetery. It's been very hard," Pagan explained.

Carmen says someone opened fire on their block in a drug-fueled turf war. She says her brother was caught in the crossfire while crossing the street in front of his mother's house.

"You can either stay down and stay depressed and not do anything about it or call to action right and start doing something to try and change things," Pagan added.

The Inter-faith Peace March is May 4, 2019, 11 a.m. at B Street and Allegheny Avenue. It will end at the same location.

Click here to learn how to get involved.