Smith Hill community holds peace march after violence

PROVIDENCE, R.I. (WLNE) — Neighbors in Smith Hill say they had to do something as a community after two separate shootings happened just minutes apart Thursday night, leaving one young man dead.

Leaders helped to organize a march for peace along Smith Street, ending with a vigil in front of G.I. Joe’s convenience store, the site of one of this week’s shootings.

“I think it was a breaking point for all of us,” said Kat Kerwin, (D) Providence City Council. “A growing feeling, a sort of anxiety-inducing feeling, that something was going wrong.”

It’s a feeling Diana Garlington has known since losing her daughter to gun violence in 2011.

“As a mother, I’ve been struggling with this for nine years now,” she said. “But I will not stop until I get justice for my daughter, Essence. And I won’t stop even after that until the rest of the families get justice and peace. This is our community. We have to stand up and be vigilant.”

Standing up for her community is what Miss Althea — as she’s known here — is all about, and she’s lived in the neighborhood for 60 years.

“Nobody, and no one is going to run me out of Smith Hill,” she said.

Miss Althea says it’s a diverse community, but it doesn’t tolerate violence.

“If you come into our community and you want to act right, we welcome you with open arms,” she said. “You come in our community, and want to tear it down and think you’re in the Wild, West, West so you can shoot ‘em up, you’re going to have a problem. Because we will be fighting back.”

Residents say part of that fighting back includes having more police, citizens, and elected officials patrolling the neighborhood.