‘Memorial to the Lost’ honors the 203 Philly homicide gun victims of 2014 [photos]
Overbrook Presbyterian Church installed more than 200 crosses with colorful T-shirts, each bearing the name of one of Philadelphia’s 2014 homicide victims.
Last year, 248 city residents were killed. The memorial includes one shirt for each of the 203 of that number who were killed by guns.
The installation, “Memorial to the Lost,” was envisioned by Hearing God’s Call, a nonprofit that aims to prevent gun violence. About 50 volunteers worked to complete the installation before Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday.
One bubble gum-pink T-shirt positioned in front of the church’s sign remembers Tynirah Borum, a 3-year-old shot in the chest in August while having her hair braided on her front porch in the Grays Ferry neighborhood.
While the homicide has gone down since 2007 when there were 391, many at Overbrook Presbyterian believe the city should not be celebrating that fact. Church members hope that those murdered in 2014 will not be forgotten.
Corrected version. An earlier version of the story did not make clear that the number of shirts equals the number of gun homicide victims, not the overall number of homicides.
WHYY is your source for fact-based, in-depth journalism and information. As a nonprofit organization, we rely on financial support from readers like you. Please give today.