LEXINGTON, Ky. — As often as she can, Tonya Lindsey visits Highland Memorial Cemetery paying tribute to her loved ones, including her late son Ezavion Lindsey, a victim of gun violence. 

What You Need To Know

  • Gun violence remains a problem in Lexington, with multiple shootings over recent days 

  • The city's gun violence task force is working to curb this issue 

  • The task force will meet Sept. 19 at city hall; it will be open to the public 

  • District 11 Councilmember Jennifer Reynolds leads the task force 

“If I stand in the center right here, in the space, the circumference and the radius around me, 80% of them are gun violence victims, young Black men," she said. 

For more than a decade, Lindsey has advocated for justice and support for families and is the founder of Sisters and Supporters Working Against Gun Violence (SWAG). 

Over the years, gun violence has hit her community in several ways.

“Those that have lost their lives to gun violence ... which is my son, Ezavion Dewayne Lindsey, those who have taken their own life by suicide with a firearm, that's gun violence to me," Lindsey said. "Those young children that are listening to guns going off in their community every night, that's gun violence to me.”

Now, she's part of Lexington’s gun violence task force, a community-based initiative District 11 Councilmember Jennifer Reynolds introduced to the city’s public safety committee last year.

Reynolds said it has made multiple recommendations, such as mentorship, mental health services and asking community centers to open up after hours for programs. It's now looking to address the council in the future with a foundation for moving forward. 

“During the task force meeting, I got a text that there had been a shooting in my district, and it was a homicide," Reynolds said. "It was a close person to somebody else who was at that meeting. This is when you realize, this is not just on the news. This is not just something that we hear about; this is affecting my family, my friends and my neighborhood.”

Lindsey said she's looking to change lives from all avenues of the community.

“When you talk about these children that are in elementary school that go to sleep with guns ringing in their neighborhood and waking up to guns, that's a lost gap," she said.

Lindsey added more than anything else, she hopes to reach an agreement with legislative leaders. 

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