Cook County State's Attorney Anita Alvarez hosted the tribute that honored survivors and those who died.
Battery powered candles, music and tears filled the UIC Forum Saturday morning for the hundreds of victims of violent crimes, their pictures posted for loved ones to see..
The tribute gave families a chance to get support from one another.
"This memorial gives me so much strength inside," said Colleen Crockett. "It gives me an uplift. It does so much for my insides."
Police caught the men who they say killed her son, 18-year-old Daniel Lydell Crockett Jr.
But for Phyllis Duncan, she is still hoping that police will find her son's killer.
"We still don't know who killed my son," she said. "That is one of the concerns we have in our community. There is no closure."
"We think it's important to the victim's familes to know we feel their pain we are here for them," Alvarez said.
There was a long list of victims, like Jessica Mejia, who was killed by a drunken driver.
"She loved to dance," said her mother, Christina Mejia. "This was actually the school she was going to. She was going to be a psychologist."
Some mourned the loss of multiple family members
The cermony fell on the two-year anniversary of the death of Derrion Albert. The honor student at Fenger High School was beaten down in an angry mob on his way home from school. His grandfather was part of the program and a candle was lit for Darien.
"There's a lot of support in it. Derrion doesn't have a voice outside of us," Norman Golliday said of his grandson.
