PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — A group of concerned citizens are using silence to make sure their voices are heard when it comes to their concerns about Philadelphia's unsolved murders and for many of them, this issue hits close to home.
Roz Pichardo's brother Alexander was killed back in 2012. The murder is unsolved, and she believes the person responsible for his death is still walking the streets.
"Sixty percent of the cases in Philadelphia are unsolved and we think that is unacceptable," she said.
It's why this week, Pichardo and others from anti-violence groups who have murdered loved ones whose cases remain unresolved are holding a silent protest at the Philadelphia Police Headquarters.
"We have families who are suffering and need answers," she said, adding she wants the police to work harder to get those answers, but she also wants neighbors to work with authorities.
"We want them to get rid of the whole no snitching mentality as well. The detectives have to do their work, but the community has to do their work to in speaking up against gun violence," she said.
Philadelphia police Capt. Steven Clark stopped by the protest to talk with the demonstrators.
"We want to try to make sure that these people have the information they need, and that they're seeking," Clark said. "A lot of us we joined because we see injustices out in the street. We feel for these people, and we want to help bring closure to the cases they have."
Lisa Espinosa said when her son Ray was killed, she spent six months in turmoil while police searched for his killer.
"I couldn't sleep, I couldn't eat. I seen everybody as a suspect," Espinosa said.
Through her prodding and the police department's hard work, the man who killed her son was eventually brought to justice.
Now, she's working to make sure no other family feels the pain she felt knowing her son's killer was on the loose and pushing for police to have better resources to get murderers off the street and help families heal.
"You need closure. We need to hold these murders accountable. We're sending a message to the community, 'hey, go ahead. There's a 60 percent chance you could get away with murder,'" Espinosa added.
The demonstration started on Tuesday and will go through Thursday, when demonstrators plan to lay garbage bags shaped like people in front of police headquarters, to represent unsolved homicide cases.
