NORFOLK, Va. - Rain or shine, The Young Terrace community and community members are coming together three days after a shooting left three women dead and two other women injured including a pregnant teen.
Norfolk police say 19-year-old Ziontay Palmer is responsible for killing Nicole Lovewine, her partner Detra Brown and their neighbor Sara Constine.
The Deputy Commonwealth Attorney who’s also the Norfolk Commonwealth Attorney-Elect Ramin Fatehi will be prosecuting the case when it goes trial. We caught up with him in the Young Terrace neighborhood and offers his condolences to the community.
"What brings you out here today?" News 3's Leondra Head asked Attorney Fatehi.
"Grief. Grief for the city of Norfolk. Grief for the families in Young Terrace. And also the determination to stand with my fellow Norfolkers who are grieving," Fatehi said.
He recommends those impacted by violence to seek out resources before it’s too late.
"Love one another. If you know someone in crisis, reach out. Seek help and you can prevent this sort of tragedy from happening. My office will be prosecuting this case, that is why I can’t speak about the specifics of it." Fatehi said.
The Stop the Violence team wants to be part of the solution, having more community engagement to keep them from turning to violence.
"This community, Young Terrace, the whole community is affected by this. We’re here to try to bring about solidarity to the healing process," Bilal Muhammed with the Stop the Violence team said.
A community is broken and shattered by the senseless gun violence. Norfolk Sheriff Joe Baron, also in the Young Terrace community, paid his respect to the community.
"We offer condolences. We offer prayers but we have to let this moment be a moment which the deaths of those 3 women and the deaths of all the people we lost this year to domestic violence or other types of violence that we’re going to step forward with solutions." Joe Baron said, the Sheriff for the City of Norfolk.
"A 19-year old man who responded with gun violence to the breaking up of his relationship. What was going on in his mind that made him believe that that was the way he needed to respond. The fact that he believed either to retaliate to the breakup with gun violence or felt that his world was coming to an end and he needed to respond that way, God only knows," Baron said.
Sheriff Baron says it's going to take the entire community to curb gun violence.
