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About 30 people gathered at the corner of Judson Street on Saturday afternoon to mourn 23-year old Jerry Murray, who died after he was shot nearby Tuesday. 

Clifford Ryan, founder of OG’s Against Violence, led the group in a prayer outside Murray’s Judson Street home in the Westcott neighborhood. Several people bowed their heads as Ryan spoke a few feet from the eight candles that he placed in front of the house.

“Please, reach out and touch our city,” Ryan said. “Wrap your arms around every single individual in your name.” 

Murray was shot on Judson Street on Tuesday night and pronounced dead on Thursday. He was transported to Upstate University Hospital in critical condition, the Syracuse Police Department confirmed. 

SPD arrested Michael Grant on Friday night and charged him with first-degree robbery and second-degree criminal possession of a weapon, according to the Onondaga County Sheriff’s Office.

Murray’s mother, Bessie Ragan, said she was able to make it to the hospital in time to tell her son that she loved him.

Ryan organized the vigil after one of Murray’s cousins reached out to him.

The group marched around the block, chanting “What do we want? Stop the violence.” Standing on the porch of her house on Trinity Place, Bessie spoke about her son, who she called “jear-bear.” He was a quiet kid who wrote poetry, loved computers and wanted to be a professor when he grew up.

“I appreciate it so much, you all being here,” she said. “Jerry, you’re so loved, you didn’t know how loved you are…He was so smart, and he had wisdom beyond his years.”

Ginny Ragan, Murray’s grandmother, said she remembered the trips she took with him to Barnes & Noble and New York City. She didn’t see him as much as he grew up, but she remembered a holiday card he wrote her recently.

A picture of Jerry Murray when he was 10 rested on the porch of his mother’s home near Westcott Street.
Gabe Stern | Enterprise editor

“He wrote at the end, ‘even when the road is bumpy, the car will always drive,’” Ginny said. “I just thought that was so sweet.” 

Others said Murray was like a cousin, even if they were not directly related. Murray was part of a tight-knit group of family friends whose parents grew up together in the Westcott neighborhood. Many of the families still live in the blocks around Judson Street and refer to each other as cousins.

Briana Edwards, who lives in the area, remembered videos that Murray would take of his best friend, Aaron. He filmed Aaron taking his first shot on his 21st birthday, adding step-by-step instructions as they laughed along in the recording. 

“The commentary behind it was just — it’s amazing,” Edwards said. “If you needed a laugh, he was guaranteed. Jerry was so quiet but such a loud force at the same time.” 

At around 4 a.m. on Thursday, Edwards got the call that Murray had been shot. She texted him hoping for a response and has been processing his death ever since. But she was thankful that she saw him grow up in real-time.

“They say family isn’t blood — it’s good to choose your family,” Edwards said. “And I was lucky enough to be chosen to be someone in his family.”

Published on November 22, 2020 at 12:18 am

Contact Gabe: gkstern@syr.edu | @gabestern326