In Salinas, as lethal crime soars, 100 Mothers ask for peace.

For just one mother to bury a child, it’s harrowing. Sadly, in a violent city like Salinas, the number of mothers who endure the experience grows far too frequently.

Debbie Aguilar became one of those mothers in November 2002 when her 17-year-old son, Stephen Joseph Aguilar, left the house with a friend to buy snacks at a convenience store. He never came back, shot on his walk there. His killer was never found.

“Everyone was a suspect,” Aguilar says. “In the end it was like hitting a brick wall. I felt like I was going crazy.”

The agony of her son’s death consumed her for years. The heartbreak was so intense she began to feel paranoid when she would hear loud noises while her other children played outside.

“I knew I needed to do something with this pain. I needed to give his death a purpose,” Aguilar says. “I could not rely on the justice system to help me.”

She founded a coalition of survivors, which she named “100 Mothers,” for those who have lost children to gang violence throughout Monterey County.

“We are in a state of urgency,” she says. “I had to do something.”

With bright red hair, black clothing and a pin with a picture of Stephen above her heart, she shares her story with purpose and passion, but her eyes are sad. She says talking helps.

Whenever the group gathers, they carry a banner crowded with photographs of the children, whether teens or adults, who have been murdered.

“We keep having to shrink the pictures to fit more of them on the banner, the number keeps growing,” she says.

With homicides soaring in Salinas this year, the banner’s parameters had become a challenge. As of mid-November, 34 people have been killed in the city – a tally that surpasses any other year in Salinas.

In 2009, when 29 people were killed, all of the homicides were gang-related, but now, the age group of victims is getting older and domestic violence is becoming a big factor. Still, mothers are left mourning the loss of their children.

Edith Ruiz is one example. Ruiz’s emotions are raw since losing her son, 35-year-old Ernesto Martinez, on Oct. 18. Martinez was riding his bicycle in East Salinas when five men surrounded him and gunned him down. Martinez was a tattoo artist and a musician, his mother says, but not involved in gangs.

“His killing was senseless,” Ruiz says, in tears, while holding a picture of him at a coffee shop in Salinas. “These people took away his opportunity to live. His killing was unnecessary.”

The group of mothers surround Ruiz as she shares her story. They comfort her by holding her hand and hugging her, but not much is said.

On Nov. 17 – a month after Martinez’s death – the group held a rally for him.

Through understanding, events and affection the bond of this coalition grows stronger. Through social media, its message for peace has gained support from community members, some of whom have not been directly affected by the violence, but want it to stop.

In the past month, “100 Mothers” have rallied in Watsonville, at the intersections where people have been killed, and places where happy memories were made. Aguilar held a vigil for her son at a Salinas skatepark on Nov. 15 – the 13th anniversary of his death – because he loved to skate.

The goal of this group is not so much to remember, but to give criminals a taste of what their violence does to the families of those who they kill – to prevent shooting and killings rather than to react.

To achieve that, Aguilar shares her story with politicians, community members, parents and even prison inmates.

“I went to Soledad Prison to talk to some low-level offenders, and when I asked if they had children, they all raised their hands,” Aguilar says. “I found that when they were kids, they all had something in common: They said no one ever asked them about their day or what was going on in their lives.”

Aguilar is trying to teach parents to know the signs of gang activity and to not be afraid of intervening when their kids are following the wrong crowd. Maybe if parents become aware, one less teen will die in the streets, she says.

Cynthia Castro, who also lost her son, turns toward the future in a similar way.

“Somehow we lost a generation, and we need to work with the new generation,” she says. “They are our future.”

Carmel Delgado, who has two daughters, says she became involved with the group because she wants to preserve the future for her kids.

For Aguilar, the awareness she has raised in the community with this group has given her some peace. And hope – for a better and safer future.

Another thing she hopes for is a halt to the growth of “100 Mothers.”

As she says in disbelief, “We have way too many [members] already.”