Maywood residents and leaders came together to champion peace and an end gun violence

Maywood residents were joined by religious, political, and business leaders in front of the Fred Hampton Statute in Maywood on Sunday afternoon to rally for peace and an end to gun violence.

A crowd of roughly 100 heard from speakers including Maywood Mayor Nathaniel Booker, U.S. Rep. Danny Davis, and the founder of Mothers of Murdered Sons, Phyliss Duncan, about the traumatic effects of gun violence and how residents can take action and step up if they have any information about a crime.

The rally, organized by the Maywood Proviso Rotary Club, comes just three months after the killing of former Marshall High School basketball player Dyanla “Dede” Rainey. The 22-year-old was parking her car in her driveway at her home on 6th Avenue and Walnut Street when she was fatally struck.

Rainey’s homicide investigation remains open.

The basketball star was one of more than 30 Maywood residents shot and killed since 2020, according to Booker.

“This year we are at seven, but there is still more work to be done until we get to zero,” he said.

In the past 14 months, Booker said the village has been able to make some strides by adding more police officers, implementing license plate readers, increasing public safety meetings and securing funding for youth violence prevention programming.

Booker said his hope is that everyone at the rally will “get involved and get engaged.”

“A lot of the time when we have these types of rallies, everyone pats themselves on the back and then goes home and comes back next year, but we’re not trying to do that,” Booker said. “The health of a community is dependent not only on the genetics of the residents but also upon the environment on which those people live.”

Rainey’s mother, Margo, and twin sister, Miyanda, stood next to David Scott, a Maywood business owner who offered a $5,000 reward for any information regarding the unsolved homicide.

Scott said he was directly affected by gun violence when he was struck by gunfire in 2000 during an attempted robbery. He was paralyzed from the waist down.

“I don’t know this family; today is the first day I am meeting this family,” Scott said. “But with the permission of Mr. Mayor and the chief of police, I am offering a $5,000 reward for the information and conviction of anyone who is responsible for this violence in our community.”

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He then led the crowd in a chant, “If you know something, say something.”

Duncan, of Mothers of Murdered Sons, was joined by several other mothers from the group. A couple of them offered hugs to Margo Rainey.

“In these 16 years of working in the Proviso Township, I have been to more than 100 murders,” Duncan said. ” If love could have saved our children, they would have lived forever.”

Davis said seeing everyone come together was moving.

“That is the makeup of a community,” Davis said. “I look forward to working with all of the moms who are engaged together.”

At the end of the rally, attendees held hands and formed a circle. In the center of the circle, 30 doves were released into the air as a symbol of peace and remembrance of those lost to gun violence.

tatturner@chicagotribune.com