The abandoned house where police found the bodies of Shavon Randle, 13, and Michael Titus, 19, has been visited by hundreds of people since the tragic discovery early Sunday.
It shines a spotlight on the issue of vacant homes in Dallas, which are considered by many to be a haven for crime.
Behind the walls of the vacant house on Kiest Boulevard where their bodies were found is a hellish secret.
"It was something that I never, ever would want to see again and will always remember the rest of my life," Dallas City Councilman Dwaine Caraway said.
It was a home that had been abandoned until the day tragedy filled those empty rooms and the grief poured out into the front yard.
"I know for sure this here has been vacant for the last three or four years," said neighbor Rochelle Chukwuorji.
This marks a renewed push for Caraway to rid communities of the vacant homes.
Local
The latest news from around North Texas.
"My heart goes out to the family, but we're going to do something about it," he said.
Gernikka Gay lives across the street from a vacant home which is just around the corner from the home that held the bodies of the teenagers.
"I can't go around there because I get emotional too easy, and I feel their pain now," Gay said. "It's a wake-up call to me."
Gay said she is ready to join the fight against vacant homes because the stakes are far too high.
"If it takes me to start something, I will do my best, because there are a lot of kids around here,” she said.
The debate within the community now is how to remedy the problem — build up the homes or tear them down.
"Tear them down and start over," Chukwuorji recommended. "There is only so much that you can do."
