JoAnn Lewis lost her 25-year-old son to gun violence nine years ago when he was shot and killed as he drove on Perkins near Interstate 240.

“This is a club that I wouldn’t want my worst enemy in,” Lewis said about the murder of her son, Jerod Lewis, on Aug. 3, 2012. “This changed our lives forever.”

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Lewis joined around 200 people for the 11th annual Season of Remembrance memorial service on Monday, Nov. 29, honoring and remembering victims of homicide, organized by the Shelby County District Attorney’s Office.

The event was held in years past at Memphis City Hall, with last year’s event held virtually because of the pandemic. 

This year, for the first time, the service was held at the University of Memphis’ Michael D. Rose Theatre. The larger venue was necessary to accommodate the larger audience coming to pay homage to someone they lost to violence, as the homicides in the city reached record numbers.

“Tonight is different from the other 11 years, we’ve always been Downtown at the City Council, but we got a little too big for that space, tragically,” District Attorney Amy Weirich said. “Nothing we do here tonight is going to fill the hole in every one of the hearts that sits here because every one of you that has come out on this Monday night has been impacted by the violence.”

Memphis reached a grim milestone of 332 homicides last year. The city may be on track to have another record-setting year for homicides. As of Monday, Nov. 29, the city recorded a total of 303 homicides with one month left to the end of the year.

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“You couldn’t care less what the numbers are, what the statistics are, what the data tells us, because all of that matters to you is the person’s name on that ornament you are holding,” Weirich said.

The names of the homicide victims were read aloud and then friends or relatives placed a Christmas ornament on a wreath. A Christmas tree held the names of 274 people killed this year. The tree, which was placed center stage at the theater, couldn’t accommodate all 316 names of homicide victims in the city and Shelby County killed to date this year.

The event was for those who lost someone to violence recently or 20 years ago, Weirich told the crowd.

Rev. Bill Adkins, the guest speaker at the event, told those in attendance to never give up hope.

“Hope helps us look to the future and we remember those we lost, but we live and we love regardless of our loss,” Adkins said. “We will never forget our loss but we can jumpstart our tomorrows.”

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Reginald Johnson has come every year to the event since his son, Samuel “Lil Sam” Johnson was shot and killed in 2014. He said it never gets easier but the annual service does help him because he comes to offer comfort to others. 

“I just want the people that have lost someone like I did to violence to know that we are all in this together,” he said.