Maria Pike Davis always told her sons Ricky and Arthur that they should love and support each other because, one day, she and their father would not be there for them. But life didn't work out that way.
"Little did I know that the first one to go would be one of them," Pike Davis told Refinery29.
Ricky Pike was fatally shot August 3, 2012, at Logan Square in Chicago. He was 24. She remembers her son's ex-girlfriend calling her around 7:45 a.m. that day.
"She said, 'Ricky was shot.' And then I said, 'No.' You know, it doesn't sound right, so I said, 'No.'" Pike Davis said.
By the time Pike Davis got to the hospital, Ricky was long gone. Arthur couldn't stop crying over the death of his brother.
This tragedy gave Pike Davis a renewed sense of purpose and a reason to help prevent other families from losing their loved ones to gun violence. She has participated in the Wear Orange campaign, a movement that aims to end gun violence throughout the country. Pike Davis' reasons for supporting this initiative are clear.
"While we have a sea of guns in this town, things are only gonna get worse," she said.
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