A man named Curtis Johnson Jr. was murdered in 1991. He became a statistic as a victim of gun violence, but his death was more than just a number.
The family members left behind to mourn him included his mother, Jeanette Culpepper. Her son’s name became a rallying cry. Rather than let her son’s death be quickly forgotten by those who never met him, Culpepper formed Families Advocating Safe Streets.
This is not a pronouncement that one murder victim, no matter how tragic and senseless, is more deserving of sympathy than another, nor is it a call for law enforcement to do more to catch Mahr’s killer than they would for any other murder victim.
Jeanette Culpepper worked tirelessly to make the St. Louis region aware that there is a story, a name, and a face that goes with every murder victim.
She established an annual candlelight vigil on New Year’s Eve at which the name of every murder victim in the area is read aloud. As the years passed, the number of names read continued to grow.
Her work made people realize gun violence was reaching every part of the St. Louis area. She refused to be ignored, nor could the growing number of violent deaths each passing year be ignored.
Jeanette Culpepper passed away on Monday, Oct. 18, 2021. She was 73.
The annual vigil must now continue without her.
Her legacy must live on. Since the vigil began, thousands of names have been added to the scroll. The names will be read the night of Dec. 31. We, as a community, should never become indifferent to a point where shoulders are simply shrugged, and sighs replace action.
19-year-old Isis Mahr’s name will be read at this year’s vigil. She was with three other teens in the Baden neighborhood just this week when a car drove by, and shots rang out. Three were injured, and Mahr was pronounced dead at the scene.
This is not a pronouncement that one murder victim, no matter how tragic and senseless, is more deserving of sympathy than another, nor is it a call for law enforcement to do more to catch Mahr’s killer than they would for any other murder victim.
Yet Mahr’s commitment to helping others and success in her promising young life makes this tragedy even more stark.
She was studying to be a nurse, after being an outstanding student at Cardinal Ritter College Prep High School. A member of the soccer team, she did volunteer work in her community.
“She was doing what she has always done – look out for people,” Atif Mahr, Isis’ father, said in a television interview. “You killed somebody good. You killed somebody that cared about people. You killed somebody that wanted to help people.”
Isis’ grandmother, Brenda Mahr, spoke on behalf of her grieving family – and for the many other murder victim’s families and loved ones, too.
“This violence, we hear all the parents say it’s got to stop, but I say we got to find the person that did this, and they need to be punished,” she said. “We need the community to step up, and this not be one of those unsolved, senseless, ruthless executions, because that’s what it was. We are committing genocide against each other.”
Culpepper often implored the community to do more to help solve murders. Like the Mahrs, she pleaded for people to come forward and help police bring murderers to justice.
Culpepper is now gone. The Mahrs must now live with the grief of losing a young woman with unlimited promise.
What will you do now, community? It is way past time to recognize that the very first steps in ending the staggering number of murders in Black communities will not be taken in City Hall or in the state legislature.
Those steps can and must be taken on the very streets where the murders are happening to assure justice is done. This can’t continue to be taken as the “new normal.”
It can start with a simple phone call.
You don’t have to do it for Culpepper or the Mahr family. Do it for yourself, your family, and your community.
Gun violence in urban communities must stoke the same outrage and attention as suburban school shootings.
Anyone with information on Mahr’s shooting, or the murder of any other person, should call CrimeStoppers at 866-371-TIPS.
