PINE BLUFF, Ark. — Since the start of the week, Pine Bluff police have been responding to homicides every day.
"It hurts my heart that the family has got to go through it," Pine Bluff resident Stevie Turner said. "The city has to go through it."
Stevie Turner works at a local barber shop in Pine Bluff. He heard about the homicides in the city, and he even knew some of the victims.
"Seeing a few pictures after one of the homicides, I was like, 'Wow, I know these people, I've seen them before,'" Stevie Turner said.
For three days in a row, there's been a homicide every day.
On Sunday, four people were shot at Saracen Landing. One of them died. That person was 20-year-old Corey Berrien.
Then, on Monday morning, officers responded to a woman found shot in a car near the Cherry Street Liquor Store. Witnesses said the woman, later identified as 44-year-old Mary Christopher, was shot by her husband, Gregory Christopher Sr., who was later found dead in his vehicle in what Pine Bluff police believe was a murder-suicide.
On Tuesday morning, Pine Bluff police found 50-year-old Zedella Samuels dead on West 33rd Avenue and South Hazel Street. They believe she was hit by a car overnight and are investigating her death as a homicide.
"It's troubling to me when I see all of the work we do to try to reduce these things, but we don't see a swelling of people joining with us saying what can we do to help," Rev. Jesse Turner said.
Jesse Turner and other pastors put the crosses to remind people of the senseless violence and to honor the victims, like 16-year-old Kendall Burton.
They are working to reduce gun violence in the area, especially with teenagers.
"We've been into the schools," Jesse Turner said. "We've seen violence reduced by 33% among students, and that's within one year."
They said part of that success is getting the community, city leaders and law enforcement involved in making better strides for a crime-free environment.
"You got to have people on the ground, communicating with one another and showing the effort to let people know we are not going to have the violence in the community," Pine Bluff pastor James Hill Jr. said.
We reached out to Pine Bluff police for more information on the homicides, and they do not believe any of them are related. There is currently no suspect information.