The mother of Alexandria's second murder victim of the year wept as she delivered her message at a vigil for her son.
"Stop killing each other, or soon there ain't going to be nobody left," said Tina McCray.
The vigil Thursday night was filled with friends and family who remembered Leon "Chip" Williams as a good father and a good friend.
And his mother sent up a heartfelt plea for peace. "I love him, I love him," said McCray. " I just wish and pray to God that everybody can just [let] loose, just take every gun that they got and let it go. Let it go."
Officers were called to Belle Pre Way in Alexandria Wednesday at 11:45 p.m. for a report of a shooting. When they arrived, they found 37-year-old Williams suffering from a gunshot wound in the courtyard of the Bel Pre Plaza apartments. Williams died at an area hospital.
WIlliams was the father of two girls and worked at the Jiffy Lube on Duke Street, which closed Thursday in his honor.
Witnesses told police they heard a burst of gunfire just before midnight.
Anthony Giuliani, who lives in a nearby apartment building, says one of the bullets pierced his car as he and his fiancée drove to the parking garage .
"He slowed down, and I said, 'No, we gotta go,' and that's when the car got hit by the bullet," Giuliani said.
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No arrests have been made.
The first homicide in Alexandria was nearby on North Fayette Street in July.
"Obviously we'd be remiss if we didn't look into the possibility of a connection, but right now we don't have anything to connect the crimes," said Ashley Hildebrandt of Alexandria Police
