Walking for peace in Baltimore, naming the dead

Karen Fanning still does not know why her son was killed. What she does know is that she is not alone.

Nearly a year removed from the loss of her son, Justin Davis, on Jan. 26, Karen Fanning and family pray with Father Mike Murphy, pastor of Our Lady of Victory in Arbutus, following the 2025 Homicide Victims Remembered: Candlelit Prayer Walk along Old Frederick Road Dec. 29. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

Fanning’s son, Justin Davis, was shot to death Jan. 26 while shopping during a visit from Virginia. She joined more than 100 others Dec. 29 for a candlelit prayer walk for peace through Baltimore’s Irvington neighborhood – an experience she said brought comfort amid her grief.

“I feel like somebody else understands what I’m going through,” Fanning said through tears, as her loved ones surrounded her.

The walk marked the third annual vigil hosted by the Archdiocese of Baltimore and the Health by Southwest Coalition. Participants gathered on a cold, windy night at St. Joseph’s Monastery Church and processed to My Brother’s Keeper, a Catholic Charities program on Frederick Avenue that provides support services for men and women. Along the route, the names – or, when identities were unknown, the sex – of Baltimore’s homicide victims were read aloud.

Baltimore City Police Commissioner Richard Worley was among the participants.

“The first year was rain, this year wind, next year will be locusts,” quipped Father Michael Murphy, pastor of Our Lady of Victory in Arbutus, which includes a worship site at St. Joseph’s Monastery Church. He said the vigil grew out of the archdiocese’s Gun Buyback Program, which has removed thousands of guns from homes and streets over the past three years.

Mary Tilghman, a volunteer with the Archdiocese of Baltimore’s Grief Ministry, reads the names of gun violence victims during the first stop of the 2025 Homicide Victims Remembered: Candlelit Prayer Walk Dec. 29. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

“We want to continue to grow that culture of peace in our city,” Father Murphy said. “All of us play a part.”

Father Murphy also expressed gratitude for a significant decline in homicides and acknowledged the work of Baltimore City police and community partners. As of Dec. 29, police reported 134 homicides in 2024, down from 192 the previous year.

“One day, we will get to zero,” Father Murphy said. “We will stand together in peace. We will stand together in love.”

Baltimore City Council President Zeke Cohen echoed those sentiments, emphasizing the power of community solidarity.

“It is exactly these moments where we celebrate each other and where we’re able to lift each other up, that set ourselves on a course for zero homicides in a not-too-distant future,” Cohen said. “Every single life is precious. Every single person we lost was someone’s son or daughter or brother or sister and honoring them and valuing them is extremely important. So many of us, let’s be real and honest, have been touched by violence. But we are standing together in solidarity to say enough is enough.”

Baltimore City Police Commissioner Richard Worley, center, was among those participating in the 2025 Homicide Victims Remembered: Candlelit Prayer Walk along Old Frederick Road Dec. 29. (Kevin J. Parks/CR Staff)

Roxanne Fuentes, survivor advocacy and family programs director at Roberta’s House, a Baltimore family grief support center, participated in the vigil for the second year in a row.

“We’re glad that numbers are down, but there are still numbers,” Fuentes said. “There are still homicides happening, and for those survivors, who – their loss could have happened 10 years ago – it is still relevant. That’s why we’re here.”

For 17-year-old Teresa Lo, a parishioner of Our Lady of Victory, the vigil was about ensuring the victims are not forgotten.

“I think it is really easy for those who have passed away that way to be forgotten about,” Lo said. “I think it’s a really nice way to honor them simply.”

Email Katie V. Jones at kjones@CatholicReview.org

To view more of Kevin J. Parks’ photos from the event, click through the slideshow below.