Allow me to use this opportunity to express my utter shock and dismay at the murder of my son and other unsolved murders in Natchez.

My son is one of the latest in the string of people brutally murdered and my appeal to the political leadership and heads of our various law enforcement agencies in Adams County is simple: please deal with these killings.

We haven’t had a community where people took matters into their own hands, no regards for human life anymore.

We are now living in a community where people are afraid to notify authorities of things that are going on in fear for their lives.

I have lived in Natchez all of my life and it’s never been like this. Our community was once like family. We must reunite as a community and speak out against violence.

Those behind these senseless killings are living a normal life, because they appear to be in control and in charge.

Members of our community cannot be expected to come forward with vital information without comfort of knowing that their identities will be protected.

Do not wait until it is your son, your daughter, your father, your mother, your brother or sister until you condemn these senseless killings of our loved ones.

I am not a politician running for council of anything else.

I am a concerned parent about not just my children but all of our children as a whole. It is my plea that we untie and rise up.

Rebecca Owens,

Natchez resident