Elgin march against gang violence draws 200
By Janelle Walker For The Courier-News October 15, 2011 4:44PM
Eric Galarza Sr. (center) and Denisse Galarza (left of center), the parents of murder victim Eric Galarza Jr., outside their home in Elgin on Saturday. | Andrew A. Nelles~For Sun-Times Media |
Updated: October 16, 2011 3:45AM
ELGIN — An estimated 200 people — men, women and children — marched Saturday from the Elgin Boys and Girls Club to the site on Elma Avenue where a 5-year-old boy was killed Oct. 7, the victim of what police say was gang violence.
Eric Galarza Jr. was killed when gunfire pierced a car he was riding in as the family left their home for a family gathering. According to Elgin Chief of Police Jeff Swoboda, the boy’s father, Eric Galarza Sr., was the intended target.
One man, 27-year-old Miguel Hernandez Jr., has been was charged with first degree murder in the boy’s death.
Those 200 marchers, including the dead boy’s parents, were marching in protest of gang violence and the gang culture in Elgin, organizers said.
Elias Juarez and Oscar Sanchez, both of Elgin and both former gang members, organized the march to encourage families and children to disavow gang violence.
Children led the march, which wound up Dundee Avenue from the Boys and Girls Club to the house on Elma, with shouts of “No more violence, no more death, for Eric. One child is too many.”
They know that one march will not stop children from joining gangs or the violence, Juarez told the crowd as they gathered in front of a curbside memorial to Eric Galarza Jr.
“Gangs are not going to go away because we did this,” Juarez said. But people showing up for the march does show that the community wants to do something and take away the control gangs have on the streets and in the community, he said.
“There is a community that cares about what happened,” he said.
The boy’s parents, Eric Garlaza Sr. and Denisse Galarza, also spoke to reporters.
“We want to thank everyone for coming here and marching,” Garlaza Sr. said. “We don’t want this to happen to anybody. God is with us.”
“It makes us feel happy, to know that we are not alone. There are a lot of other things that I can’t put into words,” Denisse Garlaza said.
They would not comment on the charges against the alleged shooter announced earlier that morning.
There is nothing that anyone can do to bring the dead child back, Juarez said, but the tragedy can lead to changes.
“Get involved with kids. Get involved in the community,” he said. He and Sanchez were able to change their lives, even when growing up in a gang culture, Juarez said. Now, adults need to teach their children how to be better than they were and do better by not getting involved in gangs.
The two — both with families of their own and working jobs in the community — said they are working with other Elgin groups speak to children about how to stay out of gangs. It can be hard for kids who grow up with family members — cousins, uncles and even fathers — who are in that lifestyle.
It was a faith conversion that got them out, Juarez said.
“God came into my life,’ he said. “It isn’t easy. But with the help of God it was easier.”
Children — now as young as the fifth grade, one Elgin Police officer noted — get into gangs because of their own lack of confidence and self-image, Sanchez said.
“Their self-image is poor,” and the gang can build up that self-image.
But now, he added, he doesn’t have to look over his shoulder and wonder if he, or his child, is a target, Sanchez said.
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