4-YEAR-OLD KAARI THOMPSON was killed in a shooting near Lincoln and Lemington avenues, Dec. 1. Her mother,Temani Lewis, was also shot, and died a few days later.
‘Who would shoot a 4-year-old?’ asks aunt of Kaari Thompson
In talking about the gun violence in Pittsburgh, there are some who counter with, “At least it’s not Chicago,” or, “At least it’s not Philadelphia,” where homicide totals greatly outnumber those in Pittsburgh.
But try telling that to the families and friends of the 69 people who have been killed inside Pittsburgh city limits this year, or the families of the additional 45 or so homicide victims in Allegheny County.
Tell that to the thousands and thousands of families whose lives have been forever altered, forever changed, forever marred by senseless gun violence in our region over the years.
The countless vigils, the balloon releases, the calls for the violence to end; so what if this isn’t Chicago, or Philly, or Detroit. Gun violence is gun violence, no matter the city, and every public official, every family member ever affected by it in Pittsburgh is calling, pleading, screaming from the top of their lungs for it to stop.
The latest death, reported by KDKA-TV on Tuesday afternoon, Dec. 6—the passing away of Temani Lewis, the mother of 4-year-old Kaari Thompson.
On Thursday, Dec. 1, Lewis and Thompson were both shot as a hail of bullets rang out at the corner of Lincoln and Lemington avenues around 6:40 p.m.
Thompson, the 4-year-old, died that night. Lewis, fought for her life until her family announced she had passed a few days later.
As of Tuesday evening, Dec. 6, no one has been arrested in their murders.
FOREVER KAARI—Pictured are Kirsten Thompson, Heather Thompson, Tyler Thompson. (Photos by Courier photographer J.L. Martello)
On Sunday, Dec. 4, a balloon release vigil was held for
Thompson, at the same corner where she was shot. With
a heavy police presence, about 100 people came out to honor the little girl’s life.
“She was like my second daughter,” said her aunt, Heather Thompson. “She was born a year before I had my daughter, and ever since she was born it was like, I loved her to death. I would steal her from her mom all the time.”
Heather Thompson continued: “She was the sweetest little girl, she always came up to you, she tells you she misses you, she ter, they were best friends, they were inseparable.”
Heather Thompson’s father said at the vigil that Kaari Thompson “was the most beautiful, adorable 4-year-old that any grandparent could want, she was just the light for everyone. She always wanted to give out hugs. Her nickname was Baby Shark.”
He added: “In four years, she gave me more joy than most people can get in 40 years, and I’m going to miss her a lot.”
Reverend Cornell Jones, the City of Pittsburgh’s Group Violence Intervention coordinator, spoke at the vigil. He said that there’s less than three percent of the people who are committing the crimes. “They want you to think that the people that are terrorizing are the ones in power,” he said. “The power is with the people, the power is with these young people, with these pastors. There’s a free-for-all (in the Black community) because we’re not unified. When we come together, when we use the gifts and talents that God has given us, the transformation happens. I’m tired of going to funerals, tired of seeing our babies dying…it’s time to rise up.”
KWALIN BARBER mourns the loss of Kaari Thompson. (Photos by J.L. Martello)
Kaari Thompson’s homicide was the 67th in Pittsburgh in 2022. An unidentified man who was shot multiple times in Spring Hill in the early morning hours of Dec. 6 was Pittsburgh’s 68th homicide. Lewis marks the 69th homicide. The 69 homicides is by far the most Pittsburgh has seen since there were 70 in 2014.
And on Monday, Dec. 5, a 16-year-old girl was shot in front of the Frankstown Laundromat, in Homewood, allegedly because she had gotten into a fight with another girl. That girl’s brothers allegedly came to the laundromat around 3 p.m. and shot the girl, according to Pittsburgh Police. That 16-year-old girl is in critical condition, as of Tuesday, Dec. 6.
It seems as though no one is off limits these days when it comes to gun violence in Pittsburgh’s Black communities.
At one time, there would almost never be a shooting of a child, or a woman, or especially at a church, such as in the shooting outside Destiny of Faith Ministries in Brighton Heights, Oct. 28, during a funeral service.
Pittsburgh’s mayor, Ed Gainey, was asked about this shoot-em-up culture that’s permeating the Black community, during his news conference on Friday, Dec. 2.
“During the pandemic, a plethora of guns were purchased all throughout America, but particularly in Pennsylvania,” he responded. “We got a whole lot of guns in our streets and no one wants to talk about it, but that’s reality. Because if a kid can get a gun like they can get potato chips, then we understand what the end result is going to be. We also have a situation where we have to continue to stand up and speak out. Our children didn’t create this culture. They’re too young to create a culture of violence. The culture of violence had to be established by the previous generation, meaning ours. All they did was inherit what we left them.”
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