One year after 16-year-old Bre’Asia Powell was shot and killed outside Benjamin E. Mays High School, her West Atlanta community held a peace rally Tuesday in her memory.
As a majorette, basketball player, cheerleader, and volleyball player, Powell was well known and liked in her West Atlanta neighborhood, according to family and friends.
“I just think by seeing all the love here, it helps out a lot. We are just so grateful to have all the love shown,” said Dwindlyn Adams, Powell’s great-aunt.
The peace rally began at West Manor Park, then dozens of Powell’s friends and family members marched down the road to Mays High School where the shooting took place before turning around to head back to the park.
“We’re going to always keep saying ‘Bre’ forever. Her spirit is going to live on with all of us,” said Aisha Porche, a childhood friend of Powell’s mother, Necole Williams.
Porche said the peace rally came together because they knew the one-year anniversary was going to be a difficult day for Williams, so they wanted to celebrate her daughter’s life while also bringing awareness to the issue of gun violence in the community.
“It’s too easy for these kids to pick up guns. No matter where you look around, these kids have guns and they should not be allowed to have these guns out here,” Porche said, adding that she’d like to see changes made to gun laws.
In the weeks after the shooting, two 19-year-olds and an 18-year-old were charged with felony murder, aggravated assault, and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony in connection with Powell’s death. A fourth suspect was arrested just last month and faces charges related to gang activity.
Rodney Williams, Powell’s grandfather, said she was a happy-go-lucky kid who always wanted to join new clubs, meet new people and see the world.
Williams, an Atlanta native who grew up in the former Bankhead Courts housing complex, said he not only lost his granddaughter but that the shooting has also altered relationships with people he’s known for years.
“When you know so many people and you find out the people involved was their grandchildren or their nieces and nephews — it’s kind of like it split the older people from the younger people,” he said.
Powell’s funeral last year drew an outpouring of support from her community and beyond. Atlanta rapper Lil Baby was also in attendance and echoed her family’s call for young people to put down the guns.
“Justice for Bre’Asia means stopping the violence, putting down the guns,” Porche said. “Parents, be aware of where your kids are, be more involved, because we as a community have got to do better.”
