Hundreds gather for vigil to remember homicide victim

MILWAUKEE -- More than a hundred people gathered around a tree on Villard Ave. and 81st St. for a candlelight vigil, honoring Eddie Ellis Jr.

Messages and pictures are posted to a tree marking the spot where Ellis was shot and killed Wednesday night. His sister looked on at the memorial, praying and talking to the brother she lost.

Hundreds gathered around the tree and join in prayers for Ellis and for those who gathered. The main message: stop the violence.

The vigil is something Ellis' father is thankful for as he mourns the loss of his 16-year-old son.

"To me it`s a celebration not sadness. Just I`m happy I`m excited just to see so many people that he came across and touched," Ellis Sr. says. "If I would have any way to explain it he was just a brush that you know touched and just brushed by everybody he touched them."

Many of his classmates were there, as well as family, talking with his father. He said he hopes that this senseless violence will stop and that people take that away from tonight's vigil.