Southeast Raleigh a ‘place of love.’ Residents, faith leaders unite after student’s death
Students, teachers, community members, elected representatives and faith leaders gathered on Sunday to band together after a 15-year old student was stabbed to death at Southeast Raleigh High School last week.
The vigil, which began at Word of God Fellowship off Rock Quarry Road, was an opportunity for residents of Southeast Raleigh to unite, converse and heal, faith leaders who spoke said.
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“We are gathered to say to our children, you are important to us,” Pastor Stanley Byrd of Kingdom Harvest Church told the crowd of more than 200.
“They are our children, and we will do everything that we have to do to ensure that they come on the other side of this whole,” he said.
From Word of God Fellowship, the coalition marched in silence to nearby Southeast Raleigh High School. There everyone encircled the pastors and a group of somber students from the school. People prayed, sang and held hands, and some cried.
A 14-year-old Southeast Raleigh High student was charged with murder after a fight broke out Monday, Nov. 27. In the melee that spilled into the gymnasium, police say the student stabbed 15-year-old Delvin Ferrell and a 16-year-old. Ferrell died of his injuries.
Several other students involved in the brawl were disciplined, according to Principal Eddie Harden. Classes were dismissed early on the day of the fight, and the school did not reopen until Thursday.
Place of Love
Byrd said a key to healing is letting community members and students know they are supported.
Also key is sharing information on resources that exist in the area, particularly those that help young people serve with conflict resolution and recovery from traumatic experiences, said Byrd, who is president of the Raleigh Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance,
Byrd pointed to the ImWELL network, a training program for religious leaders across the country, founded by Pastor Toshiba Rice of Wilson.
Coming out of the pandemic, many people, including pastors, struggled with mental health issues, Byrd told The News & Observer.
“We have to make sure we’re well, so we can continue to effectively make sure other people are well,” he said.
For one Word of God member, Shawnonne Pickett, solutions would follow communion.
“This is a place of love, a place of friendship. This ZIP code is, those within the community, within the schools. And we’re really here to be a blessing to them,” said Pickett, one of the owners of Little People Preschool in Raleigh.
“Sometimes it’s a smile, sometimes it’s a hug. But really, when relationships are built, there needs to be a time of listening. Then we can go from there,” to seek solutions, she said.
Sharing a meal
After the gathering at the school, the group walked over to Montague Plaza, a new shopping center composed solely of Black-owned small businesses to share food and beverages outside.
The plaza, which opened in October, is an example of a positive force in the community, faith leaders said during their speeches.
Real estate developer James Montague, who grew up two blocks away, broke ground on the plaza in 2021. On Saturday, Montague was there showing support.
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He told The N&O the plaza was built “as a solution.”
“The thing that happened last week, it happened last week, but it’s not new to the area,” he said.
“We built that as a solution, to offer encouragement, to give business owners, to give young people, an opportunity to grow, to expand and just get out positive energy and to be able to do positive things in the community,” he said.
Montague said he plans to create a center to teach students about the fields of science, technology, engineering and math. He also plans to incorporate conflict resolution lessons in the center, he said.
And while the event focused on one community, Marcus Bass, deputy director of the N.C. Black Alliance, said the incident last week “is not unique just to Southeast Raleigh, or to the city or even the county. This is something that there has really been a growing need to address.”
The school was scheduled to hold a community forum Monday at 6:30 p.m. with Superintendent Robert Taylor, Police Chief Estella Patterson and Principal George Harden to hear from family members and students.
Homicide was the leading cause of death for children between ages 15 and 17 in North Carolina, a Child Fatality Task Force report analyzing data from 2021 showed.
That year, the state also saw its highest suicide rate in two decades, killing 62 children, the report showed.
After the vigil, the Raleigh Interdenominational Ministerial Alliance hosted “a time of healing, comfort, and support for Southeast Raleigh High School students and their families” at the Macedonia New Life Church, closed off to the media.
This story was originally published December 3, 2023 at 5:54 PM.
