BALTIMORE — Monday night, Mayor Brandon Scott, along with other city officials and the community, came together to honor the lives lost to violence last year.
WATCH: Mayor Brandon Scott and community honors lives lost to violence in 2025
"Every loss that we've experienced this year, we feel as a village. It weighs on all of us, and as we enter into 2026, we wrap our arms around the loved ones they leave behind and commit ourselves to collective healing and to building a safer, better Baltimore future for all," Mayor Scott said.
Mayor Scott declared Monday, January 5th, an official day of remembrance in the city of Baltimore.
That remembrance extended to people lost to suicide, overdose, and fatal fires.
The night was very personal for some people in attendance, like Destiny Wooten.
"I chose to come out to this vigil today to honor my brother, who was hurt, myself and him were hurt in an incident involving gun violence together, and I survived, and he didn't, so we came to pay our respects for everyone involved," Wooten said.
The city ended 2025 with 133 homicides, the lowest amount in nearly 50 years.
Nadir Abdullah, Violence Intervention Specialist with John's Hopkins Hospital, said that's something that doesn't go unnoticed.
"I think there's a significant reduction, and I think that it sets a good pace for a lot of positivity in the city of Baltimore as we move forward," Abdullah told WMAR-2 News.
Wooten said the vigil brings her a sense of closure.
"We're not angry, we're just honoring lives that were lost that were lived cause they were precious."
Mayor Scott ended the night by telling the crowd it will take everyone working together to continue the decrease in homicides to create a safer Baltimore.
