Deborah Wray, mother of slain Robert Wray III, listens yesterday at a Providence news conference decrying violence in the city.

The Providence Journal / Kris Craig Kris Craig

PROVIDENCE — Another brokenhearted cry was heard on the steamy streets of South Providence yesterday, as the mothers of six dead young men bewailed the violence now claiming a new generation of minority youth.

Clergymen and the mothers gathered for a news conference outside a church on Broad Street to advocate nonviolence, and challenged parents, government, civic leaders and others to take charge and to help children find the right path in life.

“We talk a lot about the loved ones we lost. You don’t hear much about the ones that are doing the killings,” said Jackie Pina, who lost two sons to gun violence in 2002.

“We have to start somewhere as parents. We’ve got to get together and stop these all-age parties … at these clubs. Let’s get some curfews for these children. Let’s stop calling the police station and saying, ‘Why are you harassing my child when he’s just going to the store at 1 or 2 in the morning?’ Let’s do something as parents.”

She was overcome with grief for a minute as she addressed the news media.

“If they [your children] don’t want to listen, don’t be afraid to call the police. Because maybe that’s where they need to be. Maybe they need to listen to somebody higher if they’re not listening to you,” she said. “Don’t be afraid. Because that’s the only way we’re going to save our younger generation today.”

The news conference was called a week after Darren “D” Reagans, 18, a father of one whose girlfriend was pregnant with a second child, was stabbed to death outside La Rumba nightclub when he got into a fight while waiting on line to get into an all-ages party.

Bishop Robert E. Farrow, of Holy Cross Church of God In Christ United, 1014 Broad St., organized the news conference, which drew Pina, mother of half-brothers Jermaine Ellis, 12, and Joel Jackson, 19; Towanda Brooks, mother of two sons who were homicide victims, Reagans and Marquis Brooks, 18; Deborah Wray, mother of Robert Wray III, 21, who was gunned down in 1997; and Linda Omisore, mother of Adewumi Matthew Omisore Jr., 18, who was shot to death in 2002. Also attending was Mercedez Washington, 15, sister of Reagans and Brooks.

Wray, former president of the Hartford Park Tenants Association, said someone was convicted in her son’s murder but that the person who actually pulled the trigger escaped punishment and that she often sees him. Wray said she listens to God and that she has forgiven the culprit.

Sections of Providence are on edge these days, as young men from one block feud with others from another block, as gang members prowl after dark, and as slights both real and imagined do not go unavenged.

Two nights after Reagans was killed — his was the seventh homicide in Providence this year — gunshots were heard in the vicinity of his mother’s house at 10 Cornplanter Row, South Providence. The police were called, members of his family confirmed, and nobody apparently was hurt. Police detectives have not returned telephone calls this week regarding the incident. But it is not unusual for gunfire to be heard in the night in the poor neighborhoods.

Minister Everett Muhammad, leader of Muhammed’s Mosque in South Providence, was among the participants at the news conference, which was held outside Bishop Farrow’s church, four blocks north of La Rumba.

Mr. Muhammad declared government policies inadequate and said their shortcomings are directly tied to the violence.

“Lack of programs, Boys Club shutting down, libraries closing, children not failing school but schools failing children,” he said to murmurs of approval from the approximately 40 people gathered on a hot sidewalk as traffic moved by on Broad Street. He said people must hold government to account as well as themselves.

Bishop Farrow recalled previous rallies and news conferences that he organized to decry four or five different murders.

“I thought, I’m not coming out any more. Why should I keep coming out. The same things keep happening again,” he said of the Reagans homicide. “But I had to come out. I felt a heavy burden to do so. And something is better than nothing.”

As for what can be done, the bishop called for support for the Good Guys initiative, which is a product of the Head Start program and which encourages fathers to take responsibility for their offspring. A march against violence is tentatively scheduled to be held next month with the cooperation of Good Guys volunteers, he said.

City Councilman Nicholas Narducci, who represents Ward 4 on the north side of the city, pledged that he will do what he can to outlaw nightclub events in which alcohol is served and youths younger than drinking age are allowed to mingle with those who may drink.

“We must look at the truth and we must look at the consequences,” the bishop told the crowd. “The truth is, many of our inner-city brothers and sisters are heading to one of two places through acts of violence. And that is either to the prison system or to the graveyard. ... We’re not giving up.”

gsmith@projo.com