An online vigil was held Thursday night for Lee-Marion “Mar-Mar” Cain, the eight-year-old boy who died in a shooting on Windmill Road in Dartmouth Tuesday.
The vigil was led by Preston MLA Angela Simmonds and featured a series of prayers from pastors and members of the African United Baptist Association (AUBA).
Close to 500 people watched the vigil via Zoom while many others watched through The Black Cultural Centre’s Facebook and YouTube platforms. As of early this morning, the video has thousands of views.
“This goes beyond the norm,” said Beechville Baptist Church Pastor, Lloyd Grant. “Here we are in the Christmas season, we are supposed to be in a time of joy, and rejoicing, and thanking Christ for coming into this world, and here we are with a situation which goes beyond imaginable.”
Members of the Health Association of African Canadians (HAAC) and the Association of Black Social Workers (ABSW) also spoke about a Black community support line that has been set up to help provide counselling services for those affected by the tragedy.
“This support line is here to provide resources, supports, and navigation to our people across the province,” said Sharon Davis-Murdoch, a member of HAAC. “The calls are serviced by voicemail, and messages will be returned within 12 hours.”
“We all are working together to support calls that come to that line, we will refer them appropriately to counsellors, to psychologists if needed, whatever it is someone needs,” she said.
Mar-Mar attended Nelson Wynder Elementary School in North Preston where he is from. A memorial has been growing outside of the school since his death.
“There’s been three deaths in the Preston township in the past six weeks, and it’s been very difficult,” said Deacon Rose Fraser.
Mar-Mar is the city’s third Black homicide victim since last month. On November 13, 35-year-old Alex Thomas, from East Preston, was murdered at a home in Dartmouth. Tyreece Alexander Whynder-Ewing, 27, was arrested and charged with second-degree murder.
Last week, 47-year-old Vincent Lamont Beals was also found murdered at a home in Dartmouth, in the Churchill area. Tyere Divell Brushett, 27, has since been charged in that homicide, while 20-year-old Tatiana Faye-Anne Cox was arrested and charged with accessory after the fact.
Mar-Mar was in a vehicle with a 26-year-old man who suffered non-life-threatening injuries.
In a press conference Wednesday, Halifax Regional Police said the suspects in Mar-Mar’s murder “are described as two Black men driving a burgundy SUV, possibly a Chevrolet, with tinted windows.”
Police said they don’t believe the shooting to be related to any other incidents reported in the media and they don’t believe Tuesday’s shooting was a random incident.
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Mayor Savage was elected in October 2021. Since he took office there have been 126 meetings of the Board of Police Commissioners….he has not attended any of the meetings.
Since he was elected there has been more than 66 murders and over 140 homicide attempts. HRM is a violent place.
We need leadership.
Who will step forward with a clear plan for the next 5-10 years to improve the life opportunities of the communities most affected by theses senseless acts ?
My mistake : the first sentence should be October 2012.