Neighbors who say they were stunned by the shooting death of 21-year-old Kevon Dix attended a vigil in his honor Saturday on the quiet street in Northeast Baltimore where he was gunned down.
Dix was found dead from multiple gunshot wounds Wednesday night in the 3400 block of Mary Ave. after leaving a friend’s house where he was doing homework. He was studying music and was a tenor in the Morgan State University Choir.
His mother, Annette Dix, said earlier this week she did not know why anyone would want to hurt her son, who was expecting to graduate in December.
The vigil, organized by Baltimore Ceasefire activists, was held on the exact spot where Dix died, in front of a small playground. Neighbors in attendance spoke of Dix and his final moments. One woman told the crowd of about 40 that she was comforted by how many neighbors heard cries for help and rushed to Dix’s side that night.
One such person, James Winfield, heard the pops Wednesday and ran outside his home in hopes of saving the young man, he said.
“I watched life leave his body while he was holding my hand,” Winfield said. “I’ve been carrying that the last few days.”
Winfield told the crowd of those final moments, occasionally repeating, “It just doesn’t make sense” and pausing when he was overcome with emotion.
“I heard the screams and wails of his mom and brother when they got on the scene,” he said, adding that he prays nightly for them and the person who pulled the trigger.
One of Dix’s classmates at Morgan, Askia Ringgood, spoke of his sweet singing voice and how he lifted people when they heard him perform.
'He was the best of Baltimore': Morgan State student and choir tenor is killed in shooting Wednesday
The two were previously competitors in talent shows together, but Ringgood said Dix had the most beautiful voice he’d ever heard from a man.
“All you could do was sit there and listen and thank God you got to hear him sing,” Ringgood said.
Ringgood described Dix as an all-around good person.
“It’s not right,” Ringgood said. “He was about to graduate. He was moving forward. He had a good heart.”
Ceasefire Baltimore founder Erricka Bridgeford placed burning sage on the sidewalk before symbolically sweeping away the negative energy left behind by the shooting.
Still, neighbors said, the seemingly random act of violence has made its mark on them.
“It shook me,” Winfield said, adding that he has continued to see Dix’s face daily.
“I can’t even look at this corner,” he said. “Every day I have to park here and I can’t even look at it.”