Nearly three dozen people gathered on the corner of Park and Madison near First & Franklin Presbyterian Church on a recent Sunday in the chilly February temperatures to recite the names of the 2024 homicide victims, each symbolized by a purple satin ribbon.

Twelve people from the Mount Vernon church and community partners said the names one by one — one reading each month’s victims. Mike Johnson, a deacon at First & Franklin, read the names of those who died in January 2024.

“Noah Gibson. Antoine Johnson. Quantae Arthur. Deon Beasley. Jazmyn Reed. Dominic Wynn. William Cameron Jr. Charlie Cameron. Dequan Thomas. Malachi Carter-Bey. Mary Schuman. Seron O’Neal. Delroy Plummer. Kareem Gee. Davon Brown,” Johnson read while holding up purple ribbons.

Over the past 10 years, homicides in Baltimore have numbered upwards of 300, according to police data. In 2023, that number was 263, and decreased even further to 201 in 2024.

Since 2017, First & Franklin has hung purple ribbons along the Park Avenue wall of their church, each signifying a life lost to violence in Baltimore. In addition to hanging the ribbons, they say the name and age of the deceased each Sunday and pray for them, their families and the perpetrators.

“We were coming up with an idea of how we could actually do anything that would make a difference in the violence. And we thought, ‘Well, the main thing we need to start with is at least bringing up the issue within the congregation,’ and also as a statement to the neighborhood that this is a concern that needs to have attention put upon it,” said Betty Schroll, a nearly 50-year member of First & Franklin and the co-chair of the Peacemaking Committee, which spearheads the Purple Ribbons Ministry.

The seven-member committee decided to use purple ribbons because it’s the color of passion, Schroll said. They got the idea to hang ribbons for homicide victims from a previous initiative where they hung ribbons for the people and soldiers who lost their lives in the Iraq War, she said.

Last year, Schroll purchased 300 ribbons. But with the decline in homicides, she didn’t have to use them all. She’s hoping the same for 2025.

Organizers decorated the church’s indoor event space with paintings of Baltimore homicide victims by artist William Brown. One painting was of Dale Graham, who died in October 2008 at the hands of Baltimore City Police. His mother, Darlene Cain, a volunteer for Family Survivor Network who read names at last year’s memorial, was in attendance to do it again this year. But she wasn’t expecting to see her son’s picture in the room.

“I’m emotional, happy, shocked, overwhelmed with love,” Cain said of seeing the painting of her son. Since his death, she has been an activist and family advocate.

“I got tired of just laying down and feeling lifeless,” she said. “This is not what my son would’ve wanted.”

She continues to advocate for families who lost loved ones to violence and attends events like the one at First & Franklin because hearing other people’s stories gives her strength, she said.

Cain recited the names of February 2024 homicide victims: Charles Banks. D’Shawn Johnson. Nigel Arrington. Melvin White. Ricardo Brooks-Watters. Odell Curtis. Milo Turner. Dwayne Flintall. Rickey Cole. Darrian Williams. Messiah Heggie. Amari Williams. Darrell Mitchell. Bryant Williams. Cormar Askins.

After Cain, the executive director of FSN, Dorian Walker read the names of March homicide victims: Johnny Small. Reginald Evans. Alvin Ray Henry. Isiah Taylor. Wayne Stewart. Rasheed Lindsey. Timothy Peaks. Justice Smallwood. Christine Liddic-Rozzell. Martinez Brown. Lenora Alston. Christopher Yancey. Michael Chacon Nataren. Eugene Fitzgerald.

According to Walker, the relationship between FSN and First & Franklin precedes him, but he has worked to make it more strategic through joint projects. He has participated in the purple ribbons memorial for three years.

“Reading the names of homicide victims aloud and memorizing them in the way First & Franklin does, gives texture and color to the people who are no longer here,” Walker said. He noted how Cain seeing her son’s painting brought her joy, and that is just as important in the work of supporting families who have lost loved ones to homicide.

Churchgoers have already started displaying names and posting ribbons for this year’s homicide victims. Rev. Mark Phillips, the church’s pastor, hopes the memorial service and crisp ribbons flying in the winter wind will display what their church is all about.

“I just hope it will be another sign of our commitment to working, praying to bring about an end to gun violence in the city of Baltimore,” Phillips said. “And also as a sign that the lives lost were people loved by their families, friends. They’re more than just a number. That they were an individual, and it’s our way of, hopefully, remembering them in a very real way.”

Phillips, along with Rev. Michele Wallen, missional and community engagement associate for the Presbytery of Baltimore, led participants in a prayer of remembrance. This was Wallen’s first time participating in the event.

Wallen recited the names of those who were killed in the last month of the year: Montreal Smith. Terry Nesbitt Jr. Joyce Gaskins. Garrison Warren. Emoni Randall-Rogers. K’von McDowell. Bryan Stansbury. Travon Benson. Ibrahim Kamara. Krystal Praharnpap. Donte Bazemore. Malik Cottman. Kevin Morrison. Tyree Countess. Aaron Franton. Deangelo West. Kyre Williams.

To Wallen, it was important to remember the names and humanize those who make up the 201 people killed in Baltimore last year. Being out publicly on the street was a powerful metaphor, she said, in spite of chilly weather.

“Being cold is a small sacrifice to remember the people who died last year,” Wallen said. “We can be uncomfortable for 30 minutes. It’s nothing compared to what these families have gone through.”