ST PAUL, Minn. — As the sun set over the 7th Street Bridge in St. Paul, dozens of people lit candles and held balloons to remember the life of 18-year old Lavonte Love.
“He was a sweet young kid,” said Shanelle Love.
Shanelle Love holds the pain no mother should ever have to feel. “At this point, I just miss my son so much,” she said.
Her eldest son Lavonte was found suffering from several gunshot wounds inside a car Sunday night in the Dayton's Bluff neighborhood. He was taken to the hospital – where he later died.
“We can’t even fathom or come up with the words to describe what we’re going through right now,” said Tyson Christon, Lavonte’s cousin. “It’s extremely unfortunate that we have to come together like this,” said Chuck Love.
St. Paul police later arrested a 37-year-old man suspected in Love’s death. “There’s just like a massive, massive hole in our hearts and it’s so senseless, it was just a man who wanted to kill somebody,” said Chuck.
Love’s death was one of four homicides in St. Paul within a 36-hour time period.
St. Paul Police Chief, Todd Axtell, posted on Facebook saying, “it’s been an incredibly difficult few days for our neighbors, our city and the men and women of the SPPD.”
As friends and family remember a life cut short. “We’re going to spend as much time here, do the balloon release and just try to rebuild what’s broken in our family right now,” said Christon.
They’re hoping there’s an end to the recent violence, so no other mother has to experience the loss of a child.
“The guns need to be put down. It’s horrible. It needs to stop,” said Chuck.
The man arrested has not yet been charged and we don’t know what led up to the shooting. If you would like to help the family with funeral expenses, we’ve included a GoFundMe link here.