The founder of a North Texas nonprofit has a mission of reaching as many students and families as possible this year in an effort to curb violent crimes.
Melinda Hamilton is the founder of Mothers of Murdered Angels, which helps families navigate the legal and financial processes tied to losing a loved one to violent crimes. Hamilton lost her daughter, 25-year-old Shemeka Rodriquez, in June 2018 along with her grandson, Derrick Johnson, in March 2020 to gun violence.
“That was a wake-up call for me. Like, it was, 'enough is enough,'” Hamilton said. “I know there is not a book to tell you how to bury your loved one, going through the courts and getting the information that you need.”
Five days into the new year, Fort Worth Police have reported five homicides. According to Officer Tracy Carter, this is a slight increase compared to where the city was at this point last year.
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The most recent cases included a double homicide on Panay Way on Wednesday night. According to Carter, two teenage boys were killed and another teenager was injured.
“These are kids that are not growing up to be adults, have families; grow up to be dads, grandparents. It just really affects me,” Carter said. “Being a police officer, I want to see people grow up. To have families, to do successful things. This, it really hits home for me because this shouldn’t have happened.”
Hamilton said she plans to continue working with police and Fort Worth schools this year in hopes of speaking with school-aged children about the consequences of crime.
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“I think we need to get out here and speak to these young people. I mean, they don’t know if we don’t tell them,” she said. “We need to be a voice for them. This is our future. I mean, and our future, it’s diminishing right now. Right in front of us.”
Carter said Fort Worth Police are constantly trying to stay engaged with the community through various programs. He would personally like to see more mediation training be made available to young people.
“If they were able to do that, I think a lot of the gun violence that we’re seeing across Fort Worth or across America, I think would be changed. We need to learn today to talk through things,” he said. “If we learn that, I promise you, our world would be a much better place. But that’s me stepping on a soapbox and being a police officer.”
Hamilton said she hopes the conversation around curbing violent crimes will include more than police and schools.
“Your families are going to have to get involved. It may not have happened to you right now, but you don’t ever know. We don’t want it to happen to you like it has happened to us,” she said.
In May 2022, Mothers of Murdered Angels spoke at school assemblies within Fort Worth ISD to address the issue of gun violence. It’s unclear if similar assemblies will be held this year.
