Community In Mourning Demands Change To Protect Neighborhood Children: 'Our Kids Are Being Slaughtered'
SACRAMENTO (CBS13) — After a weekend of bloodshed, Sacramento neighborhoods are reeling and pushing for changes in a community mourning the death of a nine-year-old girl, Makaylah "Kay Kay" Brent.
Brent was killed in a drive-by shooting at Mama Marks Park in Del Paso Heights Saturday afternoon. Three others, including a six-year-old girl, were injured.
"It's not OK to do this in a park. Our kids are being slaughtered from California to New York," Amber Leslie-Brent, Makaylah's grandmother, said.
After a weekend of violence in Sacramento, the Brent family is begging for an end to the bloodshed.
"The level of violence that these kids are experiencing in our community already is horrible," Leslie-Brent said.
Councilmember Allen Warren represents District 2 and the Del Paso Heights area. He's promising change.
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"I mean, how do you recover completely from something like this? But this is definitely a step in the right direction," Warren said.
In response to the weekend of violence and the shooting that Makaylah Brent's life, Councilmember Warren is proposing several "investments" in his district, which includes Mama Marks Park.
Those investments include renovating and providing youth programs at Mama Marks Park, installing cameras at all District 2 parks, funding community organizations, and providing additional resources for gang prevention and intervention. The council also proposed providing additional library funding in the district. They said Makaylah and her family loved to visit her local branch
"Her family is known to be a part of the library system here. We're going to honor that too," Mayor Pro Tem Angelique Ashby said.
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In the middle of a pandemic with the budget already stretched thin, the city will have to get creative to find funds for these proposals.
"We have a little bit more of the federal CARES money. We will find a reasonable amount of dollars and resources to be able to do what Councilman Warren has asked for," Mayor Darrell Steinberg said.
CBS13 asked councilmember Warren if the council would consider taking money from the police budget.
"Not necessarily taking money, but the reallocation of money that can be better invested in the community. This is not meant as a punishment to the police department, it's meant to enhance the community," Warren said.
Community members are hoping the funding for these additional resources and park reovations is found quickly.