LEXINGTON, Ky. — This week is National Youth Violence Prevention Week and Lexington city leaders are calling for safe graduation celebrations and a safe summer.

Thanks to the work of One Lexington, the city has the number of gun deaths among young people declining and hopes to get it to zero.

Two mothers that lost their children to gun violence joined Mayor Linda Gorton Tuesday afternoon at City Hall and pleaded with Lexington teens and young adults to put the guns down and avoid other families from living their worst nightmare.

Priscilla Sandifer is still searching for answers almost a year following her daughter’s murder.

“I am praying that someone is found guilty, but on the other hand it’s still not going to bring her back,” Sandifer said.

Sandifer’s daughter, Amaya Taylor-Sandifer, was set to graduate from Tennessee State University before being shot and killed last May, dropping a friend off at a party. She was an innocent bystander.

“This is trauma that I have to deal with daily. I think about the incident that night every single day,” Sandifer said.

Sandifer joined Deana Howard, another survivor at city hall Tuesday. The grieving mothers begged for an end to gun violence among youth as summer approaches.

“I want to see kids graduating and celebrating life and not worrying about if somebody is going to come to their party and cause an incident with guns,” Howard said.

Howard’s son, Sean, was murdered in Aug. 2017 in a parked car but was not the intended target. His killer was acquitted in 2021.

“The last vision I have of my son is seeing him in the hospital room, eyes open, completely lifeless and staring up into the sky and me being told he was a crime scene and I couldn’t touch him,” Howard said.

Since her son’s death, Howard is an advocate for survivors and with Moms Demand Action. She pleads parents take an active role in their kid’s lives and for kids to find other ways to solve conflict.

“If you’re a parent, you can’t over parent in this situation, not in today’s society,” Howard said.

According to the city, gun violence among youth is decreasing in Lexington; from 2021 through the first quarter of this year there has been a 75% decrease in gun-related homicides among youth and young adults. Now the goal is getting that to zero.

“The young people act as if they have nine lives; they shoot somebody and they don’t think of the consequences of what’s going on,” Sandifer said.

Amaya Sandifer was awarded a degree posthumously from Tennessee State; Priscilla accepted on her behalf.

The city’s anti-violence initiative, One Lexington says it will soon announce a summer program where kids can take part in extracurricular activities, counseling and conflict resolution.