Community pleads with Gov. Carney for help with youth gun violence
LAUREL, Del. – In Laurel, the community is coming together to speak out against gun violence.
“We cannot see another life lost. We cannot lose any more of our children in this community,” said Tesha Horsey.
Operation West Laurel hosted a town hall meeting on Sunday to ask the governor for help following the recent youth deaths in the area. “Engaging with our community trying to keep talking with our community, trying to keep our community safe, and just when it seems like that we are getting momentum, we have another tragedy,” said Amy Handy, Organizer of Operation West Laurel.
Tesha Horsey, the mother of Corey Mumford who passed away to gun violence in the area asks Governor John Carney to address the guns in the area. “Illegal guns, people who are prohibited from having guns are the ones committing these crimes. It’s not the children that are in our community that are committing these crimes, it’s people who are coming into our community with guns who are killing our children,” Horsey said.
Danielle Stevens, the Mother of Kylee Robinson who also passed away from gun violence says it’s a community effort. Adding it’s up to parents to look within and take accountability. “Accountability its because whatever our children see is what they learn so if we’re doing something negative around them then we may not think it’s wrong but they perceive it differently so we have to be held accountable for our actions,” said Stevens.
Governor John Carney says his office will do its due diligence, however, a solution won’t happen overnight. “We’ll work hard with state police that are doing the investigation with local authorities but the longer-term is going to take longer, so these folks clearly they have the commitment on behalf of the community to make things better that’s gonna take a little bit of time I’m sure,” said Governor John Carney.
Horsey and Stevens say it’s up to you at home to make a difference in your community. “Continue to support our community, continue to look out for our children. I don’t want to see another face on that board tonight where we have lost another young life to senseless gun violence,” said Horsey. “Just say something. It can be anonymous, I know people don’t want to tell on people, but I feel like you can make a difference to keep them from killing someone else,” said Steven’s.
Operation West Laurel is looking to get a task force together to come up with a solution and plan to better support the area.
