Grieving NYC families rally against gun violence following teen murders

BROOKLYN - Flowers, candles and many pictures lined the driveway where 19-year-old Christian Josiah Montrose last stood.

"Say his name - Christian Montrose," loved ones chanted on Easter Sunday.

They met days after he was laid to rest, as the teen’s parents and loved ones remembered the young soul lost to senseless gun violence last Tuesday.

"They murdered my child. I need justice for my child. I need justice for Christian. I just need justice for my child," said Annett Montrose.

"I was trying to hold him, and he was just so, he was a strong son. I was trying to hold him. He was trying to say something," Shawn Montrose, the teen’s father, remembered.

Video showed the teen standing outside of his home when a car pulled up, shooting the teen multiple times. The family is hoping to turn their pain into change.

"We’re asking for 1.8, 1.8 million. What is the cost of a life in our community if we can’t get 1.8 million?" said a representative for the group, calling for more resources in the community.

The request for $1.8 million, apart of the city’s budget, is aimed at creating jobs, investments in education and initiatives against the gang violence that’s created more victims like Christian. 

"Just two months ago, we were outside for Javel Lawton," the group shared.

The 15-year-old was shot and killed in Canarsie at Bay View Houses on Jan. 2. 

At last check with the NYPD, neither the gunmen in Montrose or Lawton’s deaths have been arrested.

"It is about time that we invest in what matters most to us," said city councilmember Mercedes Narisse.

She doubled down on her call for NYC Mayor Eric Adams and her colleagues to approve the investment they believe would make way for peace and closure for grieving families. 

"No parent should go through that. No parent on the face of this earth should go through that," Shawn said.

Anyone with information is asked to call NYPD Crime Stoppers anonymously at 1-800-877 TIPS.