ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. (KRQE) – On Saturday night, Civic Plaza glowed with candlelights as the community came together to remember lives lost too soon and to remind those still struggling they’re not alone. The Keep NM Alive campaign hosted a candlelight vigil that ended just hours ago.
It offered a space of remembrance, healing, and hope. Attendees were encouraged to bring a framed photo of a loved one to place on the plaza steps as a collective tribute to lives cut short by substance use and addiction.
“I have lost so many homies to death or incarceration, I can’t even keep count. When I was younger, I thought that was normal. I thought going to prison or getting killed for no reason was what life was meant for. Now, as a young adult, it hurts me to see people get killed or locked up, and the reason it gets to me so much is because I was one of them,” said the founder of Better Big Homies, Christopher Herrera.
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