Symbolic funeral procession planned to raise awareness about Albany homicides

ALBANY — On Thursday afternoon, an unusual, somber procession will make its way to the Albany-Dougherty Government Center. Nineteen hearses will slowly pass through downtown Albany, symbolic of the 19 homicides that have occurred this year in the city.

Dougherty County Coroner Michael Fowler, who is one of the first local officials called to a homicide scene, says it’s time for those in the community — officials and private citizens alike — to live up to the example of one of the victims, Javis Walker, a 31-year-old Albany man who was shot to death on Oct. 13 as he tried to protect store employees from armed robbers.

“Where Javis took a stand in that store by himself, the community now needs to take a stand as a whole,” Fowler said. “We’ve got to take a stand like Javis did.”

Walker was gunned down during the armed robbery attempt. The guardian he lived with for the last 15 years, Patricia Moore, described him as a protective, kind soul with a sweet spirit. Mentally, she said, he was at a 13-year-old level and did not like to see anyone mistreated.

Cohen Scott Mathews, 22, and Shanorris Taylor, 28, face murder charges in that case.

Fowler said he, the Stop the Violence/Taking Authority organization and local officials were joining in the rally against crime. The funeral procession is to start at 4 p.m., followed by a brief program at 4:30 p.m. at the Government Center, 222 Pine Ave.

“We’re trying to create awareness of the deaths we’ve had — 19 homicides — so we’re having 19 hearses,” Fowler said. “Each hearse represents a person who has died.

“We’re going to have a short program, remind people of what’s going on and that the lives that have been lost will never be forgotten. Now, we need the community to take a stand.”

A communitywide effort will be required to stop the violence, he said, adding it needs visibility.

“A lot of people talk behind their doors in Albany, but nobody’s coming out,” the coroner said. “We’ve got to bring an awareness that this is happening and that we’ve got to address it. The only way we can address it is we have to take a stand and do it.”

Asked what individuals in the community can do, Fowler said citizens need to speak out about the issue of violence and to speak up when they know about it.

“The first thing is somebody’s got to say something, talk about it,” Fowler said “You see something going on that can lead up to something, talk about it. Don’t let it escalate into something that can turn violent.

“In most of the deaths that we’ve had, the person knows the other person. If you see someone being abusive to somebody, talk to the cops. If something happens, somebody still needs to talk about the people that try to hide them.”

This year has been a second straight year with a high number of homicides, following 15 in 2016. Fowler said the community doesn’t want to see itself in a situation again like in 1988, when 29 homicides in Dougherty and Lee counties — 27 of which occurred in Dougherty — got the Albany metro area then comprising the two counties tabbed as “Murder Capital of the Nation” for having the highest homicide rate per 100,000 residents.

“We’ve got to take a stand,” Fowler said. “We don’t want to be the murder capital again. We’ve got to fight this thing.”