The families of victims of gun violence gathered for an annual vigil on New Year's Day in Northwest Miami-Dade.
The memorial, in its fourth year, was held at Mount Calvary Church.
Loved ones, wearing red shirts, lit candles and remembered the children they can't hold any longer as music cut through their tears.
"Suddenly, without warning, the day comes when circumstances out of our control happens and our child's time here is gone," said Tangela Sears, who organized the program.
Sears has been working in Miami-Dade County to improve the community and stop gun violence since her son was shot and killed years ago in Tallahassee.
"No matter how long our children stay with us on earth we are mothers forever, in our souls are permanently changed," Sears said.
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Charmaine Roundtree's son Michael was shot in front of a Miami Gardens store in June 2018. Police are still looking for the shooter.
"I have no clue — no idea — why he chose my child," she said.
This program is now an annual tradition on the first day of the new year. Law enforcement, prosecutors, educators and political leaders attend to support these families.
For all the pain here, there is a message is of hope - that it will finally sink in that guns and violence in South Florida's communities is not the way to resolve disputes.
