Watsonville Peace and Unity March brings community together.

WATSONVILLE, Calif. (KION-TV): Heavy hearts filled City Plaza Park in Watsonville on Sunday afternoon.

Watsonville hosted their 29th annual Peace and Unity March which is a community event that helps remember children and young adults who lost their lives to violence.

The event started in 1994 when nine year old Jessica Cruz and her 16-year-old brother Jorge Cortez were murdered in Pajaro. Monterey County Supervisor Luis Alejo and other families co-founded this event that has become a gathering to heal the community.

The plaza had altars of young people who tragically saw their lives cut short. Pictures of those who

The march started at the City Plaza Park and went to Cortez Park in Pajaro.

Santa Cruz County Office of Education Superintendent Dr. Faris Sabbah echoed the meaning of this event and hopes that it brings the community closer together.

"I think about our responsibility as a community where we offer opportunities and healing to our youth," Sabbah said.

Watsonville Police Chief Jorge Zamora recalled the first time that he knocked on a family's door to tell them their loved one passed away.

"Have you ever heard the screams of a mother after being told one of her children has died," Zamora said. "Have you ever seen a father be crushed after knowing their child has died?"

One of the real tear-jerking moments of the event came when Rosa Ramirez came up to the microphone. She is one of the co-founders of the event and knows what that pain of losing a child feels like.

Her son, Antonio Rameirez Valdivia was killed in a drive-by shooting in June 1994. She remembers the pain and the hole in her heart that can never be filled.

"Here I am suffering for him," Ramirez said. "We should cherish the memoires in our hearts and his spirit lives in me, I love you my son."

Time has passed on but the grief will always stick with with these families forever.