Slaying of Macon teen, other killings spur call to end violence

Sunday was a call to action from Pastor Antonie Walker of Grace Corner Church in Macon.

His nearly 200-member church at 5511 Bloomfield Road is a about two miles away from the Linwood Drive home where 14-year-old Ta'shuntis "Tootie" Roberts was killed in a gang-related, drive-by shooting Dec. 13. Two other violent killings have taken place since the freshman at Southwest High School was slain.

Also, a $1,000 reward was offered Sunday by Macon Regional Crimestoppers for information leading to the arrest of 18-year-old Terrance Hampton, whom authorities think targeted Roberts' home. Hampton may have believed one of Roberts' brothers and his closest friends were responsible for a previous act of violence.

In the wake of the violence, Pastor Walker discarded his planned Christmas message to deliver one that was gang-related. Walker said he talked about what drives individuals toward gangs, how to get individuals out of gangs and move them toward becoming productive citizens, and on welcoming them into the fold of the church.

His congregation held a free fish fry Sunday afternoon for the community as a part of that effort.

"I think it's important for us as productive citizens, good church-going, career people, professionals on the city level ... for us all to develop a heart for the community, first, and, by that not just in word but in deed," Walker said.

He suggested giving selflessly of oneself by reaching out to teenagers and young men and becoming mentors to them. He advised starting with just being genuine and transparent with personal struggles and how they were overcome.

"The overall message of the fish fry ... is to be able to say that you have to be proactive not reactive to this," Walker said. "It's too late once we keep having funerals and burying individuals ... That's the point of the rally to mobilize us so that we can begin seriously planning how we'll overcome this problem."

People from all walks of life must come together, Walker noted.

"This is a citywide problem," Walker said. "My goal ... is not just to get my church people together. I want all churches, our community organizations, our businesses. I want all of us to work together. True results will come from a collaborative effort."

Church member Lucretia Taylor said such events as the fish fry are important to bring awareness to the community.

"There's too much gang violence that's going on," Taylor said. "And we're just kind of sitting back and just letting it happen. So now it's time for us to be the change."

One way to make a change would be to offer support to educators and administrators in the school systems, Taylor said. She suggested connecting with family engagement facilitators in Bibb County schools to get an idea of how to help.

Bibb County Sheriff David Davis, who attended the fish fry, noted that all killings are tragic, especially "when an innocent victim, a 14-year-old child in her own house, minding her own business, is killed ..."

"It strikes a chord in the community and causes the community to want to rise up and take action," he said.

Davis said he hopes that the fish fry and other similar community events will gather momentum.

"We need to let this be the spark to move forward and do other things in the community and become involved in these individuals lives and to give them some hope," Davis said.

"We have issues where they're undereducated, there are no jobs and things like that, and then the parents need to be involved in their lives and mentors from churches, mentors from schools, mentors from the neighborhoods to impact these lives so that they can see that there's another way than violence," he said.

A peace and prayer rally is planned from 4-5:30 p.m. Monday at Harvest Church, formerly Grace Fellowship, at 5170 Bloomfield Road.

"The rallies are held periodically in areas where there have been problems," Lisa M. Watson, co-pastor of Evangelical Liberty Christian Church in Macon, said. She's helping to organize the rally.

"We want everybody to come out to talk about the urgency to stop the killing."

Information from Telegraph archives was used in this report. To contact writer Becky Purser, call 256-9559 or find her on Twitter@becpurser.

This story was originally published December 20, 2015 at 8:59 PM with the headline "Slaying of Macon teen, other killings spur call to end violence ."