CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Last week was a violent one in the Grier Heights neighborhood of south Charlotte, but one murder and another shooting following a march for peach.
Ronald Martin grew up in Grier Heights and he died there as well after being shot while he was sitting on his front porch around 1 a.m. April 30. Monday afternoon his funeral procession passed right by David Joseph.
"He was a good dude from a nice family, but things happen," said Joseph.
Patsy Martin is the mother of the Martin. Her and her family are still searching for the killer.
"I'm praying this will draw the community closer together," Martin said.
NewsChannel 36 asked her about a reference in her son’s obituary that calls Grier Heights under served and links the death and other incidents of violence to the community not doing enough.
"Right now we need to get the kids off the street. They need to get away from the video games, need to get away from rap music," said Martin.
Her son’s funeral procession passed by Bertha Lampkin, who was out walking with her two children.
"I hope it gets better, but I think it will be the same because right after we marched…somebody got shot the next day," said Lampkin.
Meanwhile, Thomas Taylor has been fighting to improve Grier Heights for years. He has operated a convenience store in the community for more than 30 years. Despite last week’s violence, he said things are actually getting better.
"No I wouldn’t say it's the same old Grier heights,” said Taylor. "Grier town is a good community, a good community. It just got a few bad apples that sometimes comes in here and spoils the whole thing."
