LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Less than 24 hours after a double shooting in the Hazelwood neighborhood left a man dead and a woman in the hospital, several families who have gone through the similar experience of losing a loved one to violent crime joined together on the steps of the Hall of Justice for a kickoff for National Crime Victims Rights Week.
For some of the people, like the family of Dequante Hobbs Jr., some time has passed since their loved ones were killed, while for others, like the loved ones of Jose Munoz, who was shot and killed just weeks earlier, the wounds are fresher. Despite how much time has passed, the pain of losing a loved one does not fade.
"It is unacceptable that we live in a community where we lose young men like Dequante," US Attorney Russell Coleman.
The families were joined by federal law enforcement officials, including Coleman and FBI Special Agent in Charge Robert Brown, who spoke with them about the ways law enforcement has been working on helping their loved ones find justice while making sure similar tragedies don't happen as often.
"You have the right to be protected," Brown said. "You have the right to be heard. You have the right to the information about the investigations we undertake."
"Our kids go to school here too. These are our neighbors," Coleman said. "And so we come together and stand there in a suit and emphasize that we're not ivory towers. We live here too. Your family members matter."
There is some positive news. According to Coleman, violent crime as a whole is going down in Louisville. Coleman said gun prosecutions have gone up 60 percent in the last year.
"Shootings are down 40 percent from this time last year," he said. "Homicides - and every homicide is a tragic incident and should be prevented, but homicides are down over 30 percent."
While Coleman attributes much of that to increased collaboration between local, state and federal law enforcement, he said the public also plays a major role.
"We need information," he said. "We in law enforcement cannot operate without the support and engagement of citizens providing us information."
But for the families, they also have each other to lean on, to have the support of someone else who also knows their pain of loss, and they hope these meetings will grow smaller and smaller over time.