KNOXVILLE, Tenn. — Saturday afternoon family and friends of unsolved murder victims met in Knoxville met at Dr. Walter Hardy Memorial Park.
The group marched from the park to Austin-East High School in an attempt to raise awareness of unsolved murders within the city of Knoxville.
Along their walk, the group was met with honks and cheers from nearby citizens as a show of support. Skikila Smith, who lost her child's father 23 years ago knows that time doesn't heal all wounds.
"That pain of 23 years is resonant in my children, which impacts me in a way that I have to show them how to deal with it," Smith said.
Later while speaking to the group, Smith noted that both the community and the police need to do a better job of solving these cases.
"The smallest piece of information leads to another larger piece of an unsolved puzzle," Smith said.
Later on, organizers mentioned that they planned to hold similar rallies in other communities throughout Knoxville soon.
The City of Knoxville's website currently lists nine murders from 2019 as unsolved. If you have any information, you are asked to call 865-215-7317.