SOUTH BEND — Six people stood around a lone candle on a grassy yard between homes just south of Proper Apartments where Robert Jeffries was shot. He later died from his injuries at the hospital.
They specifically stood in a circle— with no beginning and no end— as one, as a community.
“It’s a way to bring some unity to a sad situation,” Michael Elliot, who led the group’s vigil on July 19, said.
None of the attendees of the On Site Prayer Ministry knew Jeffries personally, but as they gather regularly to pray for the community and the families left behind, they were familiar with stories like his — a person dead from gun violence.
obituary aloud, thinking of his family left behind — his mother who looked so young, Cecilia Edwards-Brown commented after attending his funeral last week, and his unborn daughter, Royalty Denise Keora Jeffries according to his obituary, who would grow up without her father. They chuckled after reading that Jeffries loved nachos, bringing some levity to the group.
"His smile alone made you want to smile," his obituary said. He'll be missed, the obituary said, continuing saying "his legacy is not defined by the way he died but by the imprint he left on the hearts of all since birth — with love, laughter, hugs and wet kisses."
On June 30, officers were called to the 200 block of Rue Flambeau just before 1 a.m. responding to multiple shooting victims, police reported. Jeffries was one of three victims. He later died at the hospital from his injuries, police said.
South Bend Police said on July 19 there are no updates to share publicly at this time.
“People come and go, people die, we all know that," Elliot said. "But to have a life snuffed out tragically like this —especially someone who’s young and should have the rest of their whole life ahead of them, we gather to commemorate the lives lost to violence and we gather as a community."
He spoke of the affects through the community as a person dies.
“Whenever someone is murdered like this, it sends a ripple throughout the entire community,” Elliot said. “It’s like throwing a rock in a pond. The ripples don’t just touch the deceased or the immediate family, it ripples out and touches the neighbors, co-workers and friends.”
It stands far beyond one person, he said.
City and police discuss trend of young gun violence victims
June 2024 had three fatal shootings in contrast to three non-fatal shootings in June 2023 according to the Police Transparency Hub. Elliot spoke about the "ongoing problem" of gun violence affecting South Bend's youth. Jeffries was 20 years old, but the other two victims in the shooting were both teenagers, 16 and 17 years old males, police reported.
“Part of it is that a lot of young people feel like they have to carry just to protect themself,” Elliot said. “They’re concerned that if they don’t, someone else will be, and that if they get into an altercation, they better have a gun.”
Additionally, he said, another factor contributing to death by gun violence is that “more and more people don’t have any self-control.”
Mayor James Mueller spoke on the matter at the quarterly public safety update on June 18, saying it’s a trend that’s been occurring for years, not just locally, but nationally where kids, younger and younger are getting access to firearms.
He called it a disturbing trend.
“This has unfortunately become part of our culture where guns are readily available and where kids have access to them," Mueller said.
He said the trend is difficult to get on top of, but more so difficult in Indiana "where we’re not able to take common sense measures to restrict that.”
“You imagine kids resolving fights. Kids fight all the time,” Mueller said. “The last thing they need is a gun to resolve it.”
Chief of Police Scott Ruszkowski added that based on what he’s read and conversations he’s had with supervisors and detectives, “every single one involves emotion.”
“Not being able to control emotions and the only relief is to fire a bullet at someone, makes no sense to me, nor has it for the last 37 years that I’ve been here,” he said.
Ripples of peace
The group wasn’t surprised Jeffries’ family didn’t attend the vigil Thursday, agreeing that sometimes it’s hard for the family.
Edwards-Brown, who attended Jeffries’ service as a representative of Mamas Against Violence, said Jeffries was trying to get his life on track.
“This person counted in this community,” Edwards-Brown said.
She attends the vigils to pray for the community — something she said Jeffries' mother valued as well.
“His mom believed in praying for those who had been lost by homicide and that it would be somewhat of a healing peace for the family,” she said.
Carl Hetler prayed for the community living near Prosper Apartments, where continuing violence has taken place.
“We want to re-establish ripples of peace in this place,” Hetler said. “For people who feel scared or intimidated to even come out of their homes, when a group of strangers come and pray for peace are present in places where there has been violence, it helps reestablish that there can be safe places where people can gather and be outside.”
Email Tribune staff writer Camille Sarabia at csarabia@gannett.com.
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