WASHINGTON - A vigil was held Wednesday evening to remember a 15-year-old D.C. high school student who was fatally shot while sitting with his family on a Metro platform.
The vigil started at 7 p.m. at the Deanwood Metro station where Davonte Washington was killed Saturday afternoon.
The community came together to honor a young life lost as hundreds of people packed into a parking lot at the Metro station. The vigil started with a prayer focused on peace. The overall sentiment here was that enough is enough and this was undoubtedly a senseless act of violence.
"The message here is the gun violence in D.C.," said Victor Leonard, Washington's grandfather. "People are tired of it. We want something done about it. We are going to speak about that and hope to get something done. We are going to send a message that Davonte's death will not go in vain."
"His mom didn't want this event to be just about Davonte," said Janelle Isley, Washington's cousin. "It's about everybody - young teens who got killed. Just stop the gun violence."
Community leader and radio host Joe Clair, who grew up in this neighborhood and also attended Largo High School, said young people need more positive role models and enrichment programs.
"Especially a young person who doesn't have a father figure or a stable household," he said. "Those kids we like to call them - if you see those kids and you know those kids - when you have some time in your schedule to volunteer, go do it. If you're not doing it, you're not helping the problem."
Washington was a freshman at Largo High School and was in Junior ROTC. He was reportedly headed to get a haircut ahead of Easter when he was killed.
The 15-year-old is being remembered on social media with the hashtag #davontewashington and #sayhisname.
Since the teenager's death, a GoFundMe page was started to help his family who was with him when he was killed. So far, more than $11,000 has been raised in the last two days for Washington's family.
Police arrested 17-year-old Maurice Bellamy and charged him with second-degree murder earlier this week. Witnesses say Washington and Bellamy exchanged words before Bellamy fired two shots killing him.
Bellamy is no stranger to the judicial system as he has been in and out of juvenile custody for various crimes.