ALTON - A protest is scheduled for Monday, July 7, 2025, following a fatal shooting that claimed the life of a 17-year-old Alton girl.
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On July 4, 2025, police responded to reports of a shooting on Oakwood Avenue and found the victim with an apparent gunshot wound. The victim, a 17-year-old girl, later died from her injuries at a local hospital. At 6:45 p.m. on July 7, 2025, community members will rally at the Alton Housing Authority.
“This is our community. That was one of our children,” said Lee Barham, who organized the protest. “Regardless of where she lives, it’s still one of our children. It’s one less that’ll be graduating. She was 17, so she probably would have been graduating next year. That’s one less in the 2026 class we’ll have. That’s one less too many. That’s unacceptable.”
This is not the first time Barham has organized a protest or a vigil following gun violence in Alton, including shootings that have impacted or killed young people.
“It seems like we didn’t learn from the first one or the second or the third,” he said. “This here is like a cancer we have. We have to contain it. We’ve got to eradicate it. We’ve got to treat it. No one is thinking about treating the problem. The problem needs to be treated. How do we reach our kids?”
Barham suggested “a heavy-handed approach,” with more policing or random searches as a possible solution. He wants to facilitate further conversation about solutions during the protest on July 7.
He also noted that Alton’s young people are impacted by the most recent shooting. He encourages people to come out to show support for the family and friends of the 17-year-old victim, whose name has not yet been released.
“It’s like a scab. Someone rips it off, it hurts for a minute, then you go on about your business. No, the hurt will always be there because that family lost something,” Barham said. “That life is gone. And what about her friends? What about the trauma that the kids are out there feeling right now?...Every time they hear a gunshot out there and they’re thinking, ‘Is this the next friend I’m about to lose?’ or, ‘Is this next time when I’m going to lose my life?’ It’s got to stop.”
As Barham prepares for the July 7 protest, he urged Alton residents to come out and show their support for the victim’s loved ones while also protesting gun violence in the community.
“We as citizens, we as Altonians need to step up to the plate and make it known, this is enough,” he added. “I know some people say, ‘Well, it’s not in my neighborhood.’ Guns travel. People travel. Stray bullets travel. I’ve been making bullets for 31 years, and I have not made one yet to distinguish between white and Black, poor and rich, young and old.”
