They lost loved ones to violence. On this day, they gathered to honor them in Fort Worth
They dressed in pink and held a celebration adorned with matching colors to honor the lost lives of friends and family.
The Mothers of Murdered Angels selected pink for their event on Saturday to honor the lives lost to violence and for Jacqueline Craig, a community activist and member of the group who died of cancer in September.
“Enough was enough,” said Melinda Hamilton, founder of Mothers of Murdered Angels. “What we had to go through, no one was there to take us by the hand.”
Hamilton lost her brother, daughter, and grandson to acts of violence. As a result, she founded Mothers of Murdered Angels in July 2020 so loved ones wouldn’t have to endure the loneliness and confusion of the grieving and legal processes that her and her family experienced.
Mothers of Murdered Angels offers victims assistance by accompanying family members of crime victims to court and funerals. The organization also provides counseling and grief sessions. They reach out to family members of crime victims during the holidays to see they receive the care and support they need.
Former Forest Hill mayor Lyndia Thomas’ 15-year-old grandson was murdered in 2013 when he was lured out of his house and beaten to death.
“He was a yes ma’am, no sir person,” said Thomas about her grandson, Nicholas, at the celebration.
She said his mother had just bought him a car when he died.
Despite the pain that Nicholas’ murder brought to Thomas’ family, she applauded police for their dedication and work ethic.
“They dropped everything to solve this case,” said Thomas. “My kudos goes out to the police department because so often they get a bad rep.”
LaRhonda Veal was also a victim of violence, but she shared her gratitude for her life.
“I also feel grateful, but I also have a heavy heart and feel a lot of heaviness,” said Veal.
On March 1, 1999, Veal was shot after getting into an argument with a former partner.
“I was a party girl. I chose the wrong type of people, especially men,” Veal joked.
She was shot in her clavicle, just inches from her neck and her heart, she said.
“I would’ve been dead, so I am grateful every day to be able to still be here.”
Veal discussed how shootings not only affect the victims who survive, but the family members.
“The effect that being shot has had emotionally upon everyone in my family, my child, my parents, my brother,” is never over, she said.
Now, 24 years later, Veal operates a youth ministry to honor children, to provide a positive influence that they may not have at home, and to discourage children from participating in violence.
“I just feel like that is going to — one child at a time — help to build the community and uplift it,” she said.
Hamilton’s daughter LaKeisha Mackey said she suffered from anxiety after losing her son to gun violence in February 2020.
“It’s just kind of ridiculous how gun violence is affecting our communities and it’s affecting our children because right now it’s the youth carrying more guns than anybody else,” said Mackey.
Over the summer, Fort Worth city leaders established the One Second Collaborative, a partnership between police, Tarrant County and the United Way to address teen violence.
“To create lasting solutions, we must be pro-police and pro-community at the same time through dynamic efforts like the One Second Collaborative,” Mayor Mattie Parker told the Star-Telegram in a statement.
Mackey also said mentoring children is critical.
“I’m willing to help other communities and get out there and help victims that have suffered the same suffering that I have been through,” said Mackey. “It’s been a struggle and I’m getting through it and that’s why it kind of hurt me to come today because it affects me, coming to my own organization and programs that we have. I just hope that we get the guns and the violence out of the community.”
Through Mothers of Murdered Angels, victims are eligible to receive up to four months of free counseling and trauma care. Visit its website to learn more about the group and its goals.
