DC community frustrated with response by mayor, police chief following death of Makiyah Wilson

WASHINGTON - It has been three days since a 10-year-old girl was killed after being an innocent victim of gun violence in her D.C. neighborhood. Now, some residents in Makiyah Wilson's Northeast D.C. community are calling out their elected officials for their response to this deadly shooting.

It has been a very tough week for people in the Clay Terrace neighborhood where Makiyah lived with her family. Many are expressing a deep frustration with how Mayor Muriel Bowser has addressed this tragedy along with gun violence in the inner city.

Donnetta Wilson's pain was evident as she spoke out about the loss of her daughter at a vigil outside of her home on Wednesday. The young girl was playing outside her home Monday night when four gunmen opened fire on a crowd. Makiyah was killed while her 18-year-old sister and three others were wounded.

One day later, members in the community here describe Mayor Bowser and Police Chief Peter Newsham's response as passive and lethargic. Standing before a growing memorial for Makiyah on Thursday, advisory neighborhood commissioners spoke out.

"There has been a response that is almost pandered," said ANC commissioner Tyrell Holcomb. "To read a report in the Washington Post where the mayor made a commitment to Wards 7 and 8 that she would pay attention in a manner in which no other mayor had ever done, and then to say to us give me one more time, I'll get it right. You had the opportunity now and you're not getting it right."

"We have to find a way where folks are more committed into the political process to push some of these leaders out who are not caring about them, who are not fighting for them, who are not making decisions on their behalf," said ANC commissioner Lorenzo Green.

A Black Lives Matter member told FOX 5 that if this tragedy had occurred in a different ward, the reaction from elected officials would have been very different.

"Talk to the community," said Nene Taylor of Black Lives Matter. "You have to be in the trenches because if this was Ward 2 or Ward 4, this community is not getting the resources that is needed."

Bowser was at the scene moments after the deadly shooting Monday night, but many feel that was not enough. FOX 5 has reached out to the mayor's office and they plan on making someone available on Friday to address those community concerns.

There have been 84 homicides in D.C. this year compared to 57 at the same time last year. Seventeen of those murders have been in Ward 7.