Family fears safety, moves vigil inside

GRAND RAPIDS, MIch. (WOOD) - Mourners who scheduled a candlelight vigil for Thursday evening canceled because of safety fears. They were set to remember a homicide victim outside but abruptly changed their plans.

Meanwhile, Grand Rapids investigators have their hands full with half a dozen homicide investigations covering seven deaths. It's a sharp spike in violence that is worrying one neighborhood.

== Map of homicide investigations ==

One of those homicides happened last weekend. Robert and Celia Cherry found their son, Jason, had been killed in the basement while they were upstairs. Three other people were injured in that incident.

"When people are coming into your house and shooting you and you're in your own home, then where can you go at to be safe?" Celia Cherry questioned.

At that Dickinson Street SE home Thursday, mourners wouldn't go outside. They moved a candlelight vigil to an inside prayer circle and asked for privacy. That is because Wednesday night someone shot at two nearby houses on Dickinson and another on Beulah Street.

Friends said they moved the vigil inside so they would not worry about safety, but would not say if the any of the recent shootings were related.

Cherry's death is one of seven December 2012 homicides in Grand Rapids. Police are investigating the spike to see if there are any connections.

Three homicide victims seemed to know each other. Mahdi Hayes, found shot to death in an alley, had homicide victim Eve'Vana Galloway's photo as his Facebook profile picture. They died within one week of each other.

On Thursday, investigators confirmed Hayes and another homicide victim -- Roybin Griggs-Johnson -- were family members.

Three other homicides had domestic issues at their centers. Two women died in a double murder-suicide. In the last case, a woman claimed self-defense after shooting her boyfriend. No charges have yet been filed in that case, which remains under investigation.

While police work the cases, the Cherrys can't forget what they found, and they have had a hard time remembering their loved one without worrying about their own safety.