PORTSMOUTH, Va. (WAVY) — Grieving families impacted by violence in Portsmouth came together for a prayer vigil hosted by city police at Blessed Hope Christian Center Monday night to remember the lives lost last year. Each victim's name was read out loud, and candles were lit in their honor.     Keesha Mitchell's little brother, Anthony Jones, was one of the lives lost in 2024. Jones was shot and killed Dec. 10. Aggravated murder charge filed in connection to Portsmouth homicide "He was loved by his family, his daughter," Mitchell said. "We miss him so much," Mitchell said. “He was educated — he wasn't, like, in the streets or anything like that. So he didn't deserve what happened to him. He has so much life ahead of him,"  His family members came to pray and to be around others who are in a similar situation.   "It was really important for my family and I to be here just to show up for Anthony and just to be in [the] community where everyone else is going through the same thing at this time," Mitchell said. "We all have to lean on each other."   Alicia Hatcher was also at the event. She said her son, Marvin, was shot and killed last year. Previously: Suspect in homicide of Marvin Lamar Hatcher located by Portsmouth police Tony Anthony McKeithan, 65, was arrested in connection to Marvin's death. "I just lost his father in February," Hatcher said. "He went seven months behind his father. Nobody knows the pain of this — totally unnecessary, totally unnecessary." Portsmouth Police Chief Stephen Jenkins added that the city had three fewer homicides last year compared to 2023.  “It's not about numbers," Jenkins said. "It's about making people feel safe." He said community engagement and cameras are helping them fight crime in the city.    "It's a combination of our Flock cameras, but also the cameras that feed back to our real time crime center that we monitor," Jenkins said. "Again, they give us opportunity to go back and review, to look for suspects, look for pieces of evidence that we may not have had in the beginning."