Shooting victim’s kin: ‘Take back our streets’ from fear

Shooting victim’s kin: ‘Take back our streets’ from fear
By O’Ryan Johnson  |   Saturday, October 30, 2010  |  http://www.bostonherald.com  |  Local Coverage

Photo by Herald file

Family members of a woman gunned down with an AK-47 while she was inside a Roxbury convenience store broke their silence yesterday inside a church just yards from where the mother of four was brutally killed.

Tahitia Milton, 39, was remembered as a warm woman who gave much to her community and will be greatly missed.

“She was a youth leader in her church and a community activist,” said Jeane Smith, a lifelong friend who was godmother to Milton’s children. “She was well-loved by her family and friends. She will be truly, truly missed.”

Milton’s oldest son, Clark Hunt, delivered an emotional plea to the city’s leaders as well as members of the community to get involved in the fight against neighborhood violence.

“She was a woman that was very positive. Very open, very welcoming,” he said. “We ask that everybody just stand up in any possible way, because we as a community need to stand and talk about what’s going on in our streets. We need to take back our streets. We can no longer be in fear of our own streets.”

Hunt said he is disappointed in elected leaders and their response to his mother’s death. He said it seems as though gang violence gets a majority of the attention, but when a “true innocent” such as his mother is caught in the crossfire, no one has offered support to her family.

“A 39-year-old mother getting shot is not a usual thing,” he said.

He said while it seems as though there are services out there to help families in a crisis, no city or state officials have offered to help.

Hunt said he feels like he’s handling his mother’s death as well as he can. He said he last spoke to her about two hours before she was killed.

“I told her I was going to get a haircut. I said I would see her later and that I love her,” he said.

Friends established the Tahitia Milton Children’s Fund at Sovereign Bank for those who wish to help the family.

Article URL: http://www.bostonherald.com/news/regional/view.bg?articleid=1292497