Nine years after his murder, Barway Collins returns to a community that will never forget him

Gary Hines, musical director of the Grammy Award-winning group Sounds of Blackness, played “Tears in Heaven” as the family sang. Barway's sister Lulu, 2, babbled through the harmonies and said “hello” to her brother's statue before hugging and kissing it.

For Hines, the celebration of Collins' life represents Sounds of Blackness' mission to connect communities through music.

“I would hope that the unity in the community that we see here at this beautiful memorial event and service is maintained — that it spreads from the community to the cities, the state and the nation,” he said.

Barway's death has bothered Keith Demmings for years. The 61-year-old bus driver often thinks about what could have been done to prevent his death and what his son could learn from Barway's life. Demmings said he hopes more adults pay attention and care about the youth in the community.

Barway “could have been a basketball player. He could have been a senator or something. He could have been the president of the United States, but we were deprived of that,” Demmings said. “I feel like our youth are being cheated. We can't just dismiss it, we need to get more involved… [in] raise our children.”