Chicago anti-violence march 'Prayer on the 9' takes place Saturday

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - As the number of shootings continues to grow, so does a grass roots South Side effort to stop them.

"Prayer on the 9" is bringing together families who have lost loved ones to violence.

"I think my boys are great,” said Delores Bailey, who lost a son to gun violence.

Bailey went through what no parent should ever have to go through, burying one of her sons.

“They would've been 16 in 3 days, so I thought to myself, its 11 o'clock in the afternoon...everything should be ok,” Bailey said.

That day in 2014, her son, 15-year-old Demario Bailey, was shot and killed during a robbery while trying to protect his identical twin brother.

“When you lose someone that you love, someone that you birthed, you literally die a hundred thousand times in a day just from the thought,” Bailey said.

But Bailey found strength in her faith. That is why she will walk on Saturday during ‘Prayer on the Nine’ along East 79th Street, an area plagued with violence.

"We're putting people on each corner which will be a total of 42 blocks that can be covered,” said Pastor John Hannah.

Pastor Hannah is asking anyone participating to wear red and bring a picture of their lost loved one.

“This month alone we've had 43 people in the city of Chicago that have been shot and killed,” Pastor Hannah said. “That's in the month of May and the summer is not here yet. So, we have to do something."

That’s why Bailey will walk, hoping to reach out to others to stop the senseless killing.

“I feel bad for the kids that are out here, even doing the killing because it's all a lack of love,” Bailey said.

The walk will start at 79th and Greenwood and go all the way to the Dan Ryan Expressway. The hope is that putting people on each block will show support for those who want to take back their neighborhoods and stop the killing.

The march will start at 79th and Greenwood at 10 a.m. Saturday morning.

For more information, visit Prayer on the 9