RICHMOND, Va. -- Richmonders are calling for action after a 15-year-old girl was shot to death while walking to a store with friends.
T-shirts with the phrase "I was only going to the store" are symbolic of the tragic ending for 15-year-old Tynashia Humphrey. She was killed after getting caught in the cross fire of a gun battle on Monday night in Richmond near Gilpin Court.
Police said she was an innocent bystander just going to the store with friends.
On Wednesday, friends and family gathered at the spot where Humphrey was pronounced dead on Monday night.
"Stop telling people you love them if you don't mind seeing them cold on the pavement."
Pastor Valerie Coley spent the afternoon educating young people in the Gilpin area on the difference between snitching and saying something when you witness a violent crime.
"Where is the community, y'all? Where's the love, where's the support, where's the caring for one another? Where is it? It starts with us, everybody that's out here," Coley.
Humphrey was an honor roll student at Armstrong High.
"And even today as I left my office, I passed another homicide. And the only thing I could say to myself is that family is feeling what we felt a few nights ago. When will it end? When will we, as people, say it's all of our responsibility, not just those wearing a badge?" Ricky Johnson, Humphrey's uncle, said.
The community is now praying for unity, hoping that Humphrey's tragic murder is not just a quick time to mourn.
Virginia Minor is the mother of a Richmond murder victim. Her son was fatally shot after leaving work in 2016.
She said people need to commit to change and that change starts with the heart.
"Until you pick up the phone, we are a product of the person who pulled the trigger. If we don't say anything, we are just as guilty as those who took the life of this young lady. She was only just going to the store," Minor said.
Crime Insider sources told Jon Burkett that major crimes detectives are following up on several leads.
