Families and advocates are proclaiming that "Young Lives Matter" in calling for an end to the shootings that have claimed the lives of nine St. Louis children since June.
The St. Louis Post-Dispatch reports that the nonprofit group Better Family Life organized a rally Thursday morning to focus attention on the effect of violence on children. Around 150 children participated, holding signs and reciting personal poems.
It was followed later in the day by an emotional vigil for Eddie Hill IV. The 10-year-old was shot on the front porch of his home last week and later died.
The boy's father, Eddie Hill III, recalled how his son would drag him outside to play basketball on the blacktop near their home in the evenings. He described his son's death as "senseless."
