Violence forever alters the lives of two West Side moms


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Blankets, videos, clothes, a few photos. That’s all two Austin mothers have left of their children. And a smoldering void.

Donna Hall and Ashake Banks lost their children less than a year ago to gunfire. These shootings and many more continue to plague Chicago – especially on the West and South Sides.

Chicago Sun-Times multimedia reporter Jessica Koscielniak profiled the two women, and other Chicago mothers, to show the enduring effects of homicide.

Banks’ 7-year-old daughter, Heaven Sutton was shot June 27, 2012, in front of her house near a lemonade stand.

Hall’s son, Marshall Fields-Hall was shot at a Popeye’s restaurant Jan. 18, 2013. The 21-year-old’s ashes sit in an urn on his mother’s coffee table.

The two women find strength in comforting others suffering the same terrible loss.

“I go by to see the other mothers because I really just want to hug them and let them feel the energy,” Banks told the Sun-Times.

Read the full article and see the video slideshow here.

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