Mourners gathered in Hartford鈥檚 Asylum Hill neighborhood Saturday afternoon for a vigil in memory of Se鈥機ret Pierce, the 12-year-old killed in a drive-by shooting.
Natalie Langlaise with Mothers United Against Violence led a drum beat of 鈥減ut down the guns!鈥� outside 48 Huntington Street, the site of Thursday's shooting that left two adults and a child wounded 鈥� and seventh-grader Se鈥機ret dead. It was Hartford's seventh homicide this year.
The girl was sitting in a parked car as an innocent bystander when she was shot in the head, police said, and died Friday morning. The three other victims, males ages 16, 18 and 23, were expected to survive.
Loved ones, community leaders and neighbors came out to mourn the girl鈥檚 loss.
Bianca Pierce, Se鈥機ret鈥檚 mother, spent much of the vigil surrounded by family and draped in a blanket as she sat in a camping chair, crying with her head down. She wore a lanyard with pictures of her daughter and the words 鈥淔OREVER SE鈥機RET.鈥�
鈥淥n behalf of this mother who is speechless and broken, you need to take a picture in your mind,鈥� said the Rev. Henry Brown as he led the vigil. 鈥淭his happens too often, too much. She has joined the parade of pain, and it鈥檚 a deep, dark hole that she鈥檚 falling into.鈥�
鈥淲e should be standing up. Right now we should be mad. We should be angry. We should be moved to do something,鈥� Brown said. 鈥淏ut here we go, standing here with the absent life of a 12-year-old child. And this ain鈥檛 the first time we was here.鈥�
Se'Cret was a student at Milner Middle School. JoAnn Brooks, a teacher, remembered her student Se鈥機ret as 鈥渕y little friend.鈥�
鈥淭hat was my girl 鈥� she was a fighter,鈥� Brooks said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e all out here. We鈥檙e all going to fight.鈥�
鈥淎nd we鈥檙e going to not leave this mother alone,鈥� Brooks said.
Members of Se鈥機ret鈥檚 family and Hartford Mayor Luke Bronin pleaded with the community to share any information they may have about the shooter or shooters.
鈥淎nd we鈥檙e just asking today: If anybody knows who did it, we鈥檙e praying for that person鈥檚 soul as well, because they gotta be something else to do something like that,鈥� said Heidi Wilson, Se鈥機ret鈥檚 cousin. 鈥淎nd I鈥檓 asking y鈥檃ll to continue to pray for us as we continue to pray for each other.鈥�
Bronin said: 鈥淚t鈥檚 not snitching when we鈥檙e talking about justice for a 12-year-old girl."
The Rev. Sam Saylor, Se鈥機ret鈥檚 grandfather, reminded the crowd that the family is all-too-familiar with gun violence. Shane Oliver, Saylor鈥檚 son and Se鈥機ret鈥檚 father, was killed in a 2012 Hartford shooting.
鈥淲e had one of these vigils,鈥� Saylor said. 鈥淲e asked the community to stand up for justice, and a wonderful thing happened: People poured out, in an unprecedented way, information to the police. And they worked long and hard to bring something that we鈥檝e never experienced, that is fleeting in this community.鈥�
鈥淎nd at that time I wanted street justice, I wanted quick justice. But because of the hard work of the community and the commitment of the police department and elected officials, we got something better than street justice or quick justice: We got sweet justice,鈥� Saylor said of the arrest and conviction of his son鈥檚 killer. 鈥淲e want that kind of reality for Bianca and Se鈥機ret and this family."
The shooting was captured on surveillance video, but the footage was grainy and police were trying to identify the suspected vehicle, Hartford Police Lt. Aaron Boisvert said at a press conference Friday. Authorities believe there were two people in the car.
HPD said Saturday there were no updates on the investigation available for release.
Langlaise, the drummer, lives across the street from where the shooting took place. She said it鈥檚 at least the third shooting on the block since she moved there in 2014, and she fears for her 14-year-old son鈥檚 safety.
鈥淗e don鈥檛 really come outside and play and stuff like that because, you know, the community is just so rough. We鈥檝e got to stop the violence,鈥� said Langlaise, who said she鈥檇 developed anxiety as a result of neighborhood violence.
Se鈥機ret鈥檚 family has launched a meant to cover burial expenses.
黑料新闻's Mark Mirko, Matt Dwyer and Patrick Skahill contributed to this report.
