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Families of murder victims in Milwaukee gathered at a local church to commemorate National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims Wednesday, as the city surpassed 100 homicides in 2024 earlier this week.Metropolitan Missionary Baptist Church put on the event for the second year in a row. Around one dozen families who lost loved ones to homicides attended the service, grieving together through speeches and prayer.One of the people impacted by violence is Debra Gillispie. Her son, Kirk Bickham Jr., was shot and killed in 2003. “Kirk had just come home from college. He had graduated, he was out celebrating,” Gillispie said. Bickham Jr. recently accepted a new job and was out with his two friends on the night he was shot, according to Gillispie. “The next day, when you wake up, you think it was a nightmare until you come to the realization that it actually happened. And it begins all over again,” she said. “There is hope. Don’t give up,” said Metropolitan Missionary’s Interim Pastor, Rahdae Redd, who started the event in 2023. “Don’t throw in the towel. There is life on the other side of bereavement and grief.”Also at the podium Wednesday was Milwaukee Police Chief Jeffrey Norman with a call to action. “We all have a responsibility to take care of each other. Are we not our brother’s keeper? Are we not the shepherds of our souls?” Norman addressed the audience.This week, Milwaukee marked its 100th homicide of the year. However, the year-to-date total is lower now than compared to the past two years. According to the Milwaukee Police Department’s crime map, there were 165 homicides at this time in 2022, 128 homicides at this time in 2023, and there have been 102 homicides so far this year.But the families in attendance Wednesday, who know the pain each murder brings, said that one is too many.”For a community to come together and say, we remember your loved ones. We want to honor your loss…I mean, what a beautiful thing to do,” Gillispie said.Gillispie said that Milwaukee Police have caught the man who killed her son and that he is serving three life sentences in prison. Meanwhile, Gillispie founded Mothers Against Gun Violence, an organization supporting families of murder victims in Milwaukee through art.She said that work helps her heal and honor her son.