By Erica Wright
Apostle Wanda Stephen knows the pain of losing a loved one to gun violence.
Stephen, pastor of Jesus Real International Ministry, and founder of Mothers Who Want the Violence to Stop, lost her son, George Powell Jr., 15 years ago when he was only 23.
“I’ve been fighting out here ever since,” said Stephen on Wednesday at the Homer E. Hayes Soccer Complex in the 200 block of Glen Crest Drive in Fairfield where a shooting occurred Tuesday night.
“I want to tell the community you need to put the guns down and pick up the Word of God,” she said. “I am so tired of this going on. . . not just in Fairfield but Birmingham and Bessemer and I have gone all around doing vigils and funerals and my heart goes out to a lot of mothers who have lost their children due to gun violence.”
The gunfire erupted about 7:45 p.m. Tuesday at Glen Oaks Park, also known as Homer E. Hayes Soccer Complex. The small park in the 200 block of Glen Crest Drive in the Glen Oaks neighborhood.