NEW ORLEANS — In the heart of Treme, outside St. Anna's Episcopal Church stands The Tree of Life.
The sculpture memorializes the victims of violent crime in Southeast Louisiana. It already has more than 2,000 names on it. The first came in 2007.
"Corey Hayes was shot in January of 2007. On Jan. 1, actually," Fr. William Terry remembered as he read the names off the sculpture.
As Fr. Terry remembers, Corey's mother was in his church soon after.
"She mourned and cried. And some of the things that she said have stayed with me as a pastor," he said. "'Why did they have to kill my baby? I know he was going down the wrong road. I tried to do everything I could. But why did they have to kill him?' And I don't have an answer for that.”
This year, 200 more names have been added to the memorial from New Orleans alone.
Tuesday night, a man was shot and killed in Central City, near the corner of Louisiana and Loyola Avenues. His death marked the 200th homicide in New Orleans this year.
That's 152 more than on the same day in 2021 and marks a steady increase since 2019.
But more than just a number, he was the 200th human being killed. The 200th family torn apart by violence.
That's why Fr. Terry maintains the Tree of Life, formerly known as the "Treme Murder Wall.
"I made a promise to her and therefore all the mothers and aunties and people involved with the victims of violence that no one's baby will be forgotten, certainly not in the city of New Orleans," he said.
And 15 years later, he's kept that promise. Maintaining a memorial for all of them, so they won't be forgotten.
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