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Sandra Parks spoke out against gun violence. Then she became its victim.

On November 19, an innocent Milwaukee teenager was killed by a stray bullet as she sat in her bedroom.

Her name was Sandra Parks. She was just 13 years old.

Parks was a student at Keefe Avenue Elementary School and was a gifted writer. Two years ago, she won an award for piece she wrote in Milwaukee's annual Martin Luther King Jr. essay contest.

Her stirring essay condemned gun violence and called for empathy.

To honor her memory, 88Nine asked local poet and spoken word artist Dasha Kelly to perform her work.

We've also woven in the only surviving clips of Parks' reading, captured from her 2017 interview on Wisconsin Pubic Radio.

You can help -- her family has created a GoFundMe page for Parks funeral expenses.

Director of Digital Content | Radio Milwaukee