City Heights residents came together Wednesday night to pray for peace after a fatal shooting shook the neighborhood over the weekend.
Dozens attended the Dove Vigil at New Harvest Christian Fellowship Church on 54th Street.
The vigil comes just days after Saturday evening's fatal shooting in an alley off the 3200 block of 44th Street, near Monroe Clark Middle School.
Angel Sanabria, 26, a father-to-be, was identified as the man killed when two men fired shots at Sanabria and another man. The second man, a 26-year-old who has not been identified, was injured and is expected to survive.
At the vigil, residents and loved ones gathered, sharing memories and exchanging hugs.
Pastor Jesus Sandoval with the New Harvest Christian Fellowship Church said the church will hold vigils like these whenever a life is lost in the community.
"What we want to do is promote peace in the community because its been impacted by a lot of violence and trauma. And so whenever a life is lost we want to encourage the family, the community, we want to let them know we’re here, for them and for whoever else is grieving or going through it," he said.
Sandoval said this particular death hits close to home for him and others in the community. On Sunday, a day after the shooting, he saw the victim's girlfriend come into the church and pray, seven months pregnant.
"This one is a little bit closer because we knew her, and she came," Sandoval said, tearing up. "He’s not going to know his father."
Sanabria's cousin, Pricilla Carrillo, told NBC 7 the extended family wants justice in the death of their loved one.
“He was going to be a father, me and him were going to be due around the same time so to know that I had that connection with him he was very caring, he was strong for himself, he always wanted a better future for himself and now that he was going to have this child everything was going to change," Carrillo said.
Local
At this time, police have not made any arrests. Police are looking for a pair of suspects connected to the shooting, but do not have a clear description of the men yet.
Officers say there is no evidence that the shooting is gang related. It does not appear, at this time, that the victims knew the shooters.
An SDPD homicide investigation is underway.
A Go Fund Me page has been set up to help with Sanabria's funeral expenses.
Anyone with information regarding this incident is asked to call the Homicide Unit at (619) 531-2293 or Crime Stoppers at (888) 580-8477.