LaShawnda Kennebrew of Toledo has been grieving the loss of her son to gun violence in the city for about 18 months.
On July 3, 2021, Christopher Kinnebrew, 27, was found by police in the 3100 block of Middlesex Drive at the Georgetown Village Apartments, suffering from at least one gunshot wound, shortly after a 2:45 a.m. emergency call. Mr. Kinnebrew was treated at the scene and taken to ProMedica Toledo Hospital, where he died.
“We need someone to stand for us [the victims’ families],” said Ms. Kinnebrew, the mother of three. “It’s important that we don’t feel unrecognized. That brings people together to talk, and things come out like that... Communication is the key [as in] ‘If you see something, say something.’”
Ms. Kinnebrew was one of about 100 people at a memorial service Wednesday evening at a West Toledo cathedral for city residents who have lost their loved ones to violence in the community.
The memorial service was followed by a reception held by the city’s faith leaders and Toledo’s four current former mayors, Carty Finkbeiner, Mike Bell, Donna Owens, and Paula Hicks-Hudson. The scheduled 2 1/2-hour event at St. George Antiochian Orthodox Cathedral included a meal sharing and a discussion facilitated by area church ministers.
The cathedral played host to the event on behalf of the Coalition for Peaceful Toledo Neighborhoods to convey their care and concern, event organizers said.
Ms. Kinnebrew said it’s helpful that the coalition “pushes” the police department to share more information with the families of homicide victims, to “at least” express their condolences, and “to let us know that they do care ... and show a little empathy.”
She also credited the coalition with supporting the block watch and advocating for more ShotSpotter cameras in high-crime areas.
Led by clergy such as the Very Rev. Archpriest Michael Shaheen and Epworth United Methodist Church pastor Stephen Swisher, the coalition includes the former mayors.
They helped form the coalition to provide support to the families, advocating on their behalf as part of an effort to curb Toledo’s increasing murder rates.
“Hopefully we would, one, help heal the city, but we also have the ability to help some of the victims’ family members because they’re the victims too and a lot of them are still in pain,” said Mike Bell, who has served in the past as a Toledo mayor, the state of Ohio's fire marshal, and as Toledo's fire chief.
“And we are just doing everything we can to make the quality of our city better than, maybe, in the last few years,” Mr. Bell said.
In 2022, there were 70 homicides in the metro Toledo area, including 65 in the city, with multiple youth killings in the community. Additionally, there’ve been two homicides in the city in January, both in the city.
Toledo set annual homicide records for the city in both 2020 (61) and 2021 (71). As recently as 2007, 13 homicides had occurred in Toledo.
Father Shaheen, the minister at the cathedral at 3754 Woodley Rd., led the memorial service. He said that he held the event because he’s a lifetime Toledoan who is “passionate” about what the coalition stands for. “To rid the city of the great violence that’s been happening as of late,” he said.
First Published January 19, 2023, 1:41 a.m.
