Father urges city to fight gun violence after son killed in Fayetteville: 'My family is shattered'

FAYETTEVILLE, N.C. (WTVD) -- The ongoing issue of gun violence in Fayetteville is prompting one grieving father to speak out. Sencedrick Barham, Sr., lost his 18-year-old son to a shooting at the now-closed Smokey Bones Restaurant on Skibo Road in February--and is calling on city leaders to take action.

"I don't want another parent to go through what I'm going through. It's becoming a pattern in Fayetteville that adults are burying their children and it's not supposed to be like that," Barham said.

Barham says that's what prompted him to speak up about the issue of gun violence before Fayetteville's city on Monday night. His son, Sencedrick Barham, Jr., was killed in a shooting at the Smokey Bones on Skibo Road in February. His son would have turned 19 the day before the city council meeting.

"Gun violence is not just a public safety issue. It's a public health emergency and a moral one," Barham said to the city council.

So far this year, Fayetteville police say there have been 24 homicide cases. But the police report there were 27 homicide cases for the entirety of 2024.

Jamaica Graham says she lost her brother to gun violence two years ago, too--saying guns are too accessible.

"Unfortunately, the world that we live in today, I could go to somebody that told me about and I could go and purchase a weapon illegally and the law would never know..." Graham said.

Barham also expressed concern over Fayetteville's youth curfew. The grieving father says he doesn't believe the youth curfew will be effective in curbing violence--noting his own son was shot dead in broad daylight.

"My child's not the only child that got killed in broad daylight, so what is a curfew going to do about that?"

However, Graham says the city's youth could benefit from the curfew.

"I feel like young people are so easily influenced and there's a lot more for them to get into because of their naiveté. So, I think they should be home at a decent time."

The city says officials understand the curfew is not a complete answer to the events in Fayetteville, and that it's just one part of the city's efforts to boost public safety.

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