The living room in the purple townhouse is stripped down.

Two sofas.

Some paintings.

And then a waist-high pile of shoe boxes.

- He loved his shoes, his clothes and his jewelry, and he was so funny.

You never had a bad day with him, he was so caring, loving and generous, says Kizzy Vaughan.

But her son Rosendo Miller, a promising rap artist who just got a record contract, will never again stand there in the corner and botanize among the various shoe boxes.

A few days ago, he was shot dead with eight shots in what appears to have been a robbery.

He was only going to stop at a kiosk in northeast Washington DC to buy food for his friends when the robbers showed up and aimed a gun at Rosendo's head.

It hurts that I was not there

Large parts of the course of events were captured on film.

The police state that Rosendo tried to escape but that he wrestled to the ground.

Then a weapon is fired.

One detail is particularly disturbing.

Two passers-by saw what was happening - and then helped rob him, while Rosendo died on the sidewalk.

- What hurts the most is that I was not there and defended him when he needed it, says his big sister Samantha.

Rosendo became one of the 400 people shot in the United States during the national day weekend.

150 of them were shot to death.

And in 2020, the number of murders in the United States increased by as much as 25 percent, a larger increase than ever before.

Priests patrol street corners in New York

There is great concern that gun violence and murders will increase in 2021, including in New York.

The other day, Governor Andrew Cuomo declared a state of emergency due to gun violence.

And in the Flatbush neighborhood of Brooklyn, pastor Gil Monrose is doing what he can to curb the empire.

- It's about getting to know the guys before something happens, so that when a murder has taken place we can come in and try to get people not to take revenge, he says.

Together with three other priests in the area, he has started The God Squad.

They take volunteers out and occupy street corners that have been particularly vulnerable to crime.

With them, they also have offers of jobs and educational programs.

- I know many people who want to move from here, parents who do not let their sons and daughters go out after certain times in certain areas, and I know companies that are considering closing, so we really have to deal with this problem, he says.

Shortly after Kizzy Vaughen's nightmare message came a next message, her brother-in-law was murdered in Baltimore this weekend

- People claim that innocent people are not exposed to crime, but that is not true.

If you use turn signals or skies for the wrong person.

It is meaningless violence.

To reduce the escalating violence and stop the revenge actions, priests and volunteers have begun occupying a street corner in Brooklyn, New York. Photo: Johannes Strömberg