South Melbourne residents will gather Saturday, Sept. 20, to remember the lives of those lost to homicide, including a popular 27-year-old influencer shot and killed in a robbery in 2024.
The “Dew Rally” is also set to raise awareness about the still-unsolved shooting death of 2-year-old Bles’syn Lightner, killed Aug. 29, and others who died as a result of gun violence in the working-class Melbourne community over the years, said Quamel Wynn, event organizer.
“We’re asking people to come out in unity,” Wynn said.
“We are doing this to keep their names alive, so if you lost someone come out; they deserve to be remembered.”
The event, open to all, will begin at 5 p.m. at the Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Library at 955 University Boulevard. Wynn, who has brought attention to street violence over the years with rallies and marches, pointed out that he’s lost a number of friends to shooting deaths.
It was Craig S. Dewberry Jr.’s shooting death during a store robbery at the Tip Top Mini Mart on Monroe Street that rallied residents, Wynn said. Prosecutors said that Dewberry, a father, coach and social media influencer who highlighted happenings across south Brevard, was visiting the store when several men confronted him. He was shot to death and robbed of a gold necklace. Four suspects were charged in his death.
“We will be honoring Dew … we’ll be adding Bles’syn’s name also with others,” Wynn said.
Bles’syn was with her grandparents when an unidentified gunman fired off multiple rounds in a family home on Poplar Lane, striking two adults and leaving the toddler dead. There have been no arrests in the case. Police — despite concerns from neighbors and speculation about the shooting — have made few comments on the child’s death, or issued any motives or potential suspect descriptions. The toddler’s death was the 15th reported homicide to take place in Brevard County this year.
A makeshift memorial of pink and purple balloons continues to line the gate of the home where the child died, and CRIMELINE has offered a minimum $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest.
“I’ve been saying for years that it seems that there is a spirit over Brevard with all of these gun-related deaths,” Wynn said.
“But we must do something. We have to; the victims deserve it.”
J.D. Gallop is a criminal justice/breaking news reporter at FLORIDA TODAY. Contact Gallop at 321-917-4641 or jgallop@floridatoday.com. Or X, formerly known as Twitter: @JDGallop
This article originally appeared on Florida Today: Rally to remember: South Melbourne community plans Sept. 20 vigil for homicide victims
Reporting by J.D. Gallop, Florida Today / Florida Today
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