Local News

Parents Who Lost Children To Violence Speak Out

CHICAGO (CBS) ― The past few months have been particularly violent in Chicago, with bullets claiming the lives of innocent victims and ripping into the hearts of their families.

CBS 2's Dana Kozlov reports the anguish of that loss never really goes away for parents who find the strength to carry on and work to save others.

One year ago this week, Ron Holt's 16-year-old son, Blair, was shot while riding a CTA bus home from school. He was Holt's only child, and his home is now filled with his son's pictures as he continues to work through his pain.

"And the way we lost Blair, unbelievable, horrifically…" Holt said.

Blair Holt was an innocent victim, like many of Chicago's murdered kids. Ron Holt is a police officer, and his wife, Blair's mother, is a fire captain. Both were devoted parents, so they never thought they'd lose their child to violence.

"It makes me angry, bitter... almost gave up hope," Holt said.

Holt now uses a lot of that anger to try and keep other kids safe, by speaking to students about guns, gangs and his own personal pain.

Maria Ramirez is speaking out, too as a co-chair of Parents of Murdered Children. Her only child, Mikey, was around the corner from his house two years ago when another teenager allegedly walked up to him and shot him in the face. He was 16.

"He was the sun. Everybody else was the solar system, and now we don't know how to rotate anymore because the sun is gone," Ramirez said.

Ramirez says the fight against violence often feels like a losing battle. But she and Ron Holt say it's a necessary one, a fight born from death.

"We're striving to, perhaps, save one child from going bad and murdering another child putting another mother in this position," Ramirez said.

"Hope is paramount. It is necessary in today's society," Holt said.

The offenders charged in both the Holt and Ramirez cases were juveniles when they allegedly committed murder. They are charged as adults, though, and both cases are headed to trial.

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