“Aaliyah Day” on the anniversary of the Brooklyn Day mass shooting

GLENN BURNIE, Md. — Brooklyn Day was once a term used to refer to an annual block party before the Fourth of July holiday in the Brooklyn Homes neighborhood.

That same phrase is now linked to one of the most significant mass shootings in Maryland history.

On Tuesday, the Mayor's Office of Neighborhood Safety and Engagement, Safe Streets and a number of other agencies were on the same street providing services to the neighborhood.

Even though a year has passed, police have still not charged anyone with the murders of the two victims.

Mayor Scott said the investigation is ongoing and he has sent a message to officials.

“I would tell them they are cowards and your petty conflict should not result in the death of one person and the deaths of dozens of others,” said Mayor Brandon Scott.

One of the lives lost was that of 18-year-old Aaliyah Gonzalez.

Fifteen minutes from Brooklyn Homes, in a park in Glenn Burnie, dozens of people celebrated his life.

“This is what Brooklyn was supposed to be like: a place where you can have fun and have a good time and enjoy your friends and stuff like that, so we just want to show people how it's really supposed to be done,” says Rashon Shelbourne.

Rashon Shelborne, Aaliyah's older brother, says he thinks about that day often.

“It was a year ago, but for me it was like yesterday, like I still remember everything that happened that day.”

Her mother, Krystal Gonzalez, says that even though Aaliyah has been gone for a year, she still feels her presence, especially these past two days.

“I found myself making the exact same meal that I had made that day, and it blew my mind, so with those realizations and knowing that here we are on July 2nd, I was determined to make this day a day of celebration,” Krystal says.

Gonzalez said it was something she felt she had to do, not only for Aaliyah and the 29 other victims, but for an entire generation of people affected by similar tragedies.

“This is a result of issues that have been ignored for decades. So we need to reorient ourselves to our current culture, because we are glorifying the very things that are killing us. What we need to restore is respect, pride and dignity for each individual, so that you know that when you respect yourself, when you are proud of your community and when you walk with dignity, you are not shooting and killing people,” says Krystal Gonzalez.

Krystal Gonzalez says her family will continue to hold Aaliyah Day every year around the anniversary of her death.