HOUSTON – A community still grieving the death of a child who was killed walking home from school is fighting back.
The murder of Josue Flores inspired Near Northside residents to rally to make their neighborhood a safer place to live.
Wednesday, the residents took their fight to City Hall, asking the mayor and council to back the expansion of an ordinance to help them take back their streets.
The group of mothers and grandmothers said they've had enough of the homeless and vagrants they say are taking over the sidewalks.
"One time I saw a vagrant laying on sidewalk in front of the Carnegie Branch Library. He decided he needed to urinate so he did that in front of the children," Mary Medel said.
The residents gathered almost 300 signatures to petition the city of Houston to expand the city's civility ordinance to include their neighborhood along the Fulton Street corridor.
"They're laid out intoxicated, high on drugs and students are being dismissed from school walking right past them and that's not civil," Cynthia Reyes-Revilla said.
The civility ordinance prohibits lying down, sitting or placing personal possessions on sidewalks from 7 a.m. to 11 p.m.
The group packed council chambers asking council to approve the expansion.
"It's clear we're under siege. Drugs and crime are putting our community in danger," Reyes-Revilla said.
According to Houston police, there has been an increase in transient homeless and vagrants in the area, which they say contributes to an uptick in violent, non-violent and nuisance crimes.
The residents said they know the expansion alone won't fix all their problems, but consider it a start.
"We understand that there can't be anymore patrol or police that are added, but the residents want to take charge with this," Reyes-Revilla said.
Council is set to vote on the expansion of the ordinance in two weeks.
