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A crowd gathers at Washington Street Park Sunday evening prior to the balloon release.

Children help get the balloons ready.

Family and friends light candles at a monument in memory of Korey Sims Jr.

Those honoring Sims Sunday console one another following the balloon release.

Balloons of all kinds were brought in by the crowd.

Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. speaks to the crowd prior to the balloon release.

A monument for Korey Sims Jr. was made Sunday at Washington Street Park.

The crowd releases balloons in honor of Korey Sims Jr.

Family and friends of Korey Sims Jr. gathered at Washington Street Park Sunday for a balloon release in his memory. Sims was killed in a shooting Sunday, Aug. 3. (Photos by Blake Bell/The Vicksburg Post)

A crowd of friends and family members of the late Korey Sims Jr. gathered at Washington Street Park Sunday evening for a balloon release in his honor.

Sims, 18, of Vicksburg, was killed Sunday, Aug. 3 in a shooting that also injured three other men.

Vicksburg Mayor George Flaggs Jr. said the number of people in attendance at Sunday’s memorial was a testament to the life Sims lived.

“We’re here to honor and thank God for the life of Korey Sims,” Flaggs said. “I guess I’ll say it the way that Dr. Martin Luther King would say it: It’s not how long you live, it’s what you do while you live.”

Less than 24 hours after Sims was killed, the Warren County Sheriff’s Office arrested 18-year-old Tavon Cain for the shooting. Cain has been charged with first degree murder and three counts of aggravated assault.

Flaggs said that while Sims made a positive impact on those around him during his short life, there is never an excuse for the kind of violence that ended it.

“I think he lived a full life and what we have to do today is to celebrate that life and make certain that we know that violence is no friend to none of us.”

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