For more than five years, Janice Johnson supported mothers grieving children lost to violence through her work as a staff member at the Louis D. Brown Peace Institute.
Then, in 2023, she became one of them.
Johnson’s son, Ja’Maar Johnson, was run over by an SUV on Stuart Street in Boston in September 2023. He was rushed to a hospital, where doctors pronounced him brain dead after six hours, Johnson said. She ultimately made the decision to remove him from life support in time for his heart to be donated to another person.
“It was bittersweet, of course, but my son’s heart is still beating,” Johnson said in an interview Sunday night.
On Sunday, Johnson walked through Dorchester alongside family and friends wearing red shirts emblazoned with the number five — a tribute to her son’s favorite color and his artist name, “5ive” — during the 30th annual Mother’s Day Walk for Peace.
The 5k walk brings together families, survivors, and community members to honor loved ones lost to violence while raising money for the Peace Institute, whose work includes crisis response, long-term grief support, youth programming, and advocacy for families affected by homicide.
“It’s a space for me to turn the tragedy into a purpose of love, to uplift my son and show him how much he was loved,” Johnson said.
The event Sunday came hours after a pair of shootings were reported in Boston, including one in Mattapan on Saturday night, where a man was killed. The other shooting was reported in Dorchester early Sunday and left two people with injuries, according to police. Later Sunday night, two people were hospitalized with injuries after a shooting on Kingsdale Street in Boston.
The walk traces its origins back to 1996, when Chaplain Clementina Chéry organized the first gathering three years after her 15-year-old son, Louis D. Brown, was killed by stray gunfire in Dorchester while on his way to a Teens Against Gang Violence meeting.
What began as a small group of grieving mothers has since grown into a major annual event and the centerpiece of the Peace Institute’s work.
“This year’s walk was an incredible reflection of what 30 years of community, resilience, and collective action can accomplish,” Chéry, the institute’s chief executive and president, said in a statement. “Seeing thousands of people come together to honor loved ones while investing in peace and healing is deeply powerful and reminds us why this work is so important.”
Suffolk County District Attorney Kevin Hayden attended Sunday’s walk alongside members of his staff, a spokesperson for his office said.
“One of the primary factors in Boston’s historically low crime rate is the participation of community members at all levels,” Hayden said in a statement. “This march is a perfect example of residents coming together to advocate for a safer society.”
Mayor Michelle Wu also attended the walk and praised those who have helped sustain the event over three decades.
“This incredible group of moms and survivors have channeled the deepest pain into the most impactful sense of purpose, and have changed our city, and continue to do so every day,” Wu said at the event, according to audio of her remarks provided by her office.
To mark the event’s 30th anniversary, organizers hosted the walk’s first post-race community rally at Town Field Park, featuring live music by Angelena and the Unit along with food vendors, mocktails, and family activities.
Luis Antonio Thompson, a senior producer in the Peace Institute’s production department and Brown’s cousin, said organizers wanted to turn the event into more of a gathering place.
“In years past, people would walk the route and then go home, and this year we said, ‘What if we made it a destination?” Thompson said. “It was received pretty well.”
The walk had raised roughly $467,000 by Sunday evening, about 78 percent of the institute’s $600,000 fundraising goal, according to Thompson. Fundraising for the event will continue through Father’s Day, as it does each year, he said.
Anthony Potter, who said he grew up with Brown and attended the walk for the first time in more than two decades, said the event reflected his friend’s vision for the city.
“Boston is very different from when we grew up; things were a lot more separated, even segregated,” said Potter. “To see so many different people come together for a unified purpose is the vision that Louis had.”
Nathan Metcalf can be reached at nathan.metcalf@globe.com. Follow him on Instagram @natpat_123.