Title: Absence
Story Description: What remains after the high emotion of a shooting are deteriorating corner memorials, life-size cutouts of victims, and the long, and hard struggling days for the family and friends left behind after the loss of their loved one. The United States has recorded its highest increase in homicides in modern history, rising 30% between 2019 and 2020, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Rochester, New York, hit a record-high number of homicides in 2021, totaling to 81. This leaves the city with a higher rate per capita of homicides than Chicago, Ill. Rochester is one among 16 cities across the country in 2021 to hit records for homicides.
First Caption: Friends and family of the late Manuelito Rivera, record as the pallbearers, who were brothers and sons of Rivera, carry his casket to be laid to rest at The Chapel of Peace Mausoleum at Riverside Cemetery on Sept. 13, 2021. Rivera died on Sept. 2, 2021, after being in a coma for over 2 months. He was caught in the crossfire of a shooting in a Walmart parking lot on June 28, 2021.