GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. — The Garfield Park Neighborhoods Association (GPNA) plans to host a peace vigil on Saturday after police found three bodies on nearby streets, believing them to be murdered.
"I get this call from GRPD," said Fran Dalton, director of operations and neighborhood organizer for GPNA. "I said, 'Uh-oh. What is that?'"
During the Monday phone call, Dalton learned the news: that morning, two bodies had turned up in the southeast Grand Rapids neighborhood, "fatally shot and left lying in the street," according to GRPD.
Then later that day, another shooting had happened on nearby Horton Avenue, killing another man. Less than 48 hours later, GRPD identified the three victims: 20-year-old Anayia Rodriguez,19-year-old Malik Eubanks, and 32-year-old Darryl Yarber, respectively.
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"When did all this start?" Dalton said while on the phone. "He said, 'Today.' I was stunned, absolutely stunned."
In the "middle of the night," she thought of the peace vigil.
"We recognize something horrible has happened," Dalton said. "But we have to come together as a community to try and take care of each other and make sure it doesn't continue."
In September, residents of Garfield Park put together a block party on Horton Avenue, grilling hot dogs and playing Jenga in the early-fall sunshine.
"It was just a celebration," Dalton said. "This is our home. This is our community."
Now, after the location of the September block party temporarily turned into a November crime scene, Dalton says there's something to be done.
"I think that we cannot just rely on the city of Grand Rapids or the Police Department," Dalton said. "But we as a community, we can pay attention."
The peace vigil — put on by the GPNA — will take place this Saturday on the 2100 block of Horton Avenue, and will "recognize this tragedy and acknowledge our shared trauma."
