Mother of Tamir Rice on mission to get justice for her son

CHICAGO (FOX 32 News) - A grieving mother is making her way across the country and looking for justice for her son.

Samaria Rice is the mother of 12-year-old Tamir Rice of Cleveland, who was shot and killed by police last year. Police thought Tamir was armed with a gun at a park, but they later discovered he was holding a pellet gun.

Since that heartbreaking and emotionally charged day, Rice has been on a quest to keep young people everywhere safe and out of harms way.

She wants significant policy change and the headlines of police shootings to stop. 

"I'm still raising three other children and I think about Tamir every single day - he was my baby and my best friend," said Rice.

"Someone told me I could be the biggest activist for my son and I decided to push on with it because that's all I got - my voice is all that I got for my son," she added.

Early Friday morning, Rice held a news conference at city hall as part of the "Which Side Are You On? Rise up October" tour.

Rice says she wants justice for her son and others, like Eric Garner and Mike Brown.

Rice and Father Michael Pfleger also teamed up for the weekly Friday night peace march on the South Side.

"Them coming always puts a face on the national story and it reminds us it's what happened in Cleveland and it's what happens in Chicago," said Father Michael Pfleger of St. Sabina's Church.

He said the gun violence can be stopped, through jobs, opportunities, education and relationships.

"This violence is winnable, it's not whether we can do it, it's whether we want to do it," said Father Pfleger.

Rice said she is happy to march in Chicago and that the changes she's pushing for are universal.

"I would like to see the police do a better job with the community, that's the first thing because everybody is not all bad. They want to say that police is not all bad, well the community of people is not all that bad either," said Rice.

She and her group are hoping to come back to Chicago this summer and plan to announce more ideas for policy change. 

The tour started in Cleveland and has made its way to Chicago. It will make a stop in Ferguson, Miss. next.