Lowcountry native speaks out on gun violence at DNC

CHICAGO, S.C. (WCBD) – Summerville native, Melody Geddis McFadden, took the stage on the final night of the Democratic National Convention in Chicago to shine a light on the lasting impacts of gun violence.

McFadden wears a lot of hats. She’s a pastor, a veteran, an activist and a voice for those who lost their lives to guns.

“My niece Sandy Patrice was 22. She drove to Myrtle Beach for sun and fun and motorcycle parades,” McFadden began, during her speech at the convention.

McFadden said her niece was shot and killed in 2014 after fights broke out on the beach and shots were fired into the crowd.

When describing her ability to stay calm upon hearing about the beach shooting, McFadden revealed to the DNC crowd this was not her first time losing a loved one to gun violence.

“My mother, Patricia Ann, had been shot and killed by an abusive partner. I was calm then too. I got to handling business,” McFadden said. She was 17 at the time of her mother’s death.

The stage was shared with other victims of gun violence including a survivor of the 2012 Sandy Hook school shooting and a mother whose daughter was killed in the 2022 Uvalde, Texas school shooting.

McFadden caught up with News 2 on Friday to discuss her experience speaking at the DNC.

“It was a surreal moment. A moment that was, I think long overdue for not just for the Democratic Party, but for the world,” she told News 2.

McFadden said its not easy to retell the stories but it’s something she and her three sisters feel they must do.

The South Carolinian has taken a stance against gun violence through her work with Moms Demand Action and the Everytown Veterans Advisory Council. Ten years later, McFadden is still on a mission to get her niece’s murder solved.

“Kids ought to be able to go to the beach and have fun and come home again. But Sandy didn’t come home and because of that a fire was lit in me. I am going to do everything I can to help others not understand what I go through every single day,” McFadden shared. “And that was just the step to being on that stage last night.”

McFadden said she’s planning to be back in town for the 10 ^th Annual Cops and Kids Back to School Bash in Ladson on Saturday August 24. The event, hosted by the Taking Back Our Village Advisory Council, is from 10 am to 2 pm at Exchange Park.

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