Cincinnati homicide victims memorialized as cold case families call for answers
Apr 12, 2025
The city of Cincinnati memorialized murder victims with a ceremony in their honor at Memorial Hall Saturday. Hundreds of names of those killed lined the walls as the families of murder victims walked through, inspecting them.Cin
cinnati Police Victims Assistance Unit Health Program Manager Karen Rumsey showed us the art that children in Winton Hills had drawn for the group after experiencing gun violence themselves."Most of them want it to stop, want the gun violence to end," Rumsey said. "Most of what I heard the kids say is they just want to be kids, and they want to grow up."Many family members walking past the names of those lost to gun violence still had no answers about who killed their loved one.Tracie Sledge lost her daughter, Darian Woods, in 2019."The police are not magicians. They can't pull something from nothing," Sledge said. She called for anyone with knowledge of what happened to come forward.While we talked with Sledge, Venus Vall waved at us and asked to be interviewed as well.Vall's son, Denias Weaver, was shot and killed just last year."He was an army veteran," she said. "I would have preferred his life be taken that way."We asked Vall what message she wanted put out to the public since she sought out our camera."The main message I want is don't be afraid to speak up. Let's get out there and talk about it. Let's get out here and find solutions," she said.So, we asked Rumsey what her solution to the epidemic of gun violence would be."We keep bringing awareness to what it does, the lives that it shatters and takes away," Rumsey said.She added that it takes a comprehensive approach to solve gun violence, including policing, victim support programs, and prevention efforts like gun security education programs.Part of the solution would include getting killers off the street, and Sledge called for people to come forward and help her get her daughter's shooter behind bars."There are people out there that know what happened," she said.Anyone with information to help solve Cincinnati's cold cases can call Cincinnati Police, or they can stay anonymous by calling Crime Stoppers at (513)352-3040. ...read more read less
