WASHINGTON — Nearly 50 people gathered in a quiet Southeast block Tuesday evening to remember Clarence Venable. There was scripture reading and prayer and a time for family members to share.
"My father was everything, you feel me, this man was everything," Venable's eldest son Jowan said as he was holding on to a picture of his father.
The 40-year-old came out from the other side to turn his life around and help cure the streets. Venable had just left an anti-violence training in the 3200 block of Dubois Place, SE Friday when he was gunned down.
The father of four young children was working as a violence interrupter but sadly, it was street violence that took his life.
"He was so happy working with them (violence interrupters) and I never understood why he was so happy," Jowan said. "But I understand now because when you come from where I'm from it's hard to make that change to do better."
D.C. Attorney General Karl Racine said it's a dangerous job, but it's absolutely necessary.
"Obviously incredibly tragic, our hearts go out to his family and obviously the team is also quite devastated," Racine said. "Nonetheless we clearly have unanimity around the commitment to do even more in terms of violence interruption. We’ve got to find a way to reduce the violence in the District of Columbia and we believe violence interruptions part of the solution."
"The help we need therapy and assistance is out of our reach financially," added Keith Andrews, the grandfather to some of Venable’s children, who told the crowd children and families are battling the emotional scars of this violence.
"The last words from him was always the last word we gave each other," Venable’s son said. "I love you, son, I love you big guy."
Police are still looking for a suspect wanted for the murder and are offering a $25,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
Anyone with information about this case is asked to contact the Metropolitan Police Department at 202-727-9099.
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