Group Remembers Baltimore's 335 Homicide Victims Of 2020
BALTIMORE (WJZ) -- For the sixth year in a row, Baltimore reported more than 300 homicides in one year.
In 2020, 335 people were killed in Baltimore, according to city police. That number is down from the 348 killed in 2019, which set a per-capita record.
As for non-fatal shootings, there were 725 in Baltimore in 2020. That was also down from the previous year when 770 were reported.
Baltimore Mayor Brandon Scott Remembers City's 335 Homicide Victims In 2020
On New Year's Eve, Mayor Brandon Scott held a virtual vigil for 2020's homicide victims. He read each victim's name.
Scott said city leaders will "recommit ourselves to the work of building public safety as a city in the year ahead."
On New Year's Day, the Moms of Murdered Sons and Daughters group read a list of the victims' names. On that list were hundreds of young men, 25 women -- including a 73-year-old -- and four infant children.
The group's message was clear: it will take every single Baltimorean to bring about change.
"When you have a child murdered, you never get to say goodbye," Victory Swift, whose son Victorious was murdered in March 2017, said.
Victorious was 19 when he was killed. His mother said his death was over a cell phone.
"He gives you nothing to resolve, that's what you're left with and you're left with that forever and it scars you forever," she said.
She and other mothers urge people to get involved to make the city better.
"Make it your business to join an organization, to advocate for, to fight to never again be silent," she said. "We owe that to them, and working together is a part of that."
Swift started an organization called Our Victorious City to honor her son. To learn more about it, click here.
