May 22, 2007 — Calling it a "day of prayer and healing," Gov. John deJongh Jr. Tuesday proclaimed Wednesday, May 23, as Jason Carroll Memorial Day.
On May 23 seven years ago, Celia and James Carroll lost their 19-year-old son, Jason, in a downtown shooting. Since that tragic loss, the Carrolls have been community voices in the fight against gun violence. Months after Jason was killed, Celia Carroll started a chapter of Mothers Against Guns (MAG) in the Virgin Islands.
On Sunday, the community came together for the fourth annual Walk/Run Against Gun violence. Carroll is asking the community to come together to pray in a noon ceremony Wednesday in Emancipation Garden. She asks that churches throughout the island ring a bell at noon for each of the 42 victims of gun violence who died last year.
"It is to be recognized that safety in our homes, in our schools and in our streets, and that freedom from the fear of violence is important to the citizens of the Virgin Islands," deJongh said. "It is appropriate to set aside one day out of the year for the Virgin Islands to remember victims of violence, to heal itself, to engage in prayer and to direct itself to solutions to the problem of gun and other violence."
Carroll offered a suggested prayer the community can make for the victims of violence. To read it, click here.
