Mural honoring 2018 murder victims erected in Downtown Phoenix

PHOENIX - October marks the third anniversary of the murder of two men on Roosevelt Row in Downtown Phoenix, and a mural has been painted in their honor.

The shooting happened on Oct. 8, as David Bessent and Zachery Walter were walking home from work at Jobot, a cafe in Downtown Phoenix. Two people, identified as Castulo Cervantes and Antonio Palafox-Zermeno, have been arrested in connection with the murders. Cervantes and Palafox-Zermeno were 14 and 15, respectively, at the time of the murders. Both were charged as adults.

Mural carries anti-gun violence message

The mural is painted outside of Carly's Bistro along Roosevelt Row, a short distance away from where David Bessent and Zachery Walter worked.

"This mural is to honor the memory of the two amazing artist and community members, Zachary Walter and David Bessent, who were senselessly murdered by gun violence," said Carley Logan with Carly's Bistro. "We worked with their family to create this mural. The poetry that's on the mural was written by Zachary."

"Last year's when we got the ball rolling, and we reached out to Carly's Bistro, and it happened to be that Moms Demand Action was also looking to do a commemorative, so it was kind of serendipitous that way," said community organizer Kharli Mandeville.

Besides honoring the lives lost, the mural also expresses a hopes to end gun violence.

"One of the things this mural does, and why we we're so interested in partnering with friends and family of Zack and David and Carly's Bistro is because we want to honor all victims of gun violence, and bring a face because what changes hearts and minds is the story of the gun violence," said Marle Thearle with Moms Demand Action.