Gladys Montalvo, the older sister of murdered 18-year-old high school senior Ismar "Mookie" Mineros, could barely stand. Her tears flowed as she read the posters and looked at the pictures of her brother at the memorial shrine that was set up outside Mineros' Willow Avenue home Thursday night.

Gladys then looked at the upper floors of the brownstone.

"Mookie's light is still on," she said, barely audible, her voice quivering as she stared at her late brother's bedroom.

For several minutes she cried and hugged her sister Soraya Ordonez-Caraballo. Five feet south of Gladys, Mineros' brother Randy Montalvo led a group in prayer. The nearly 200 people that had marched from Fifth and Jackson streets - the site of the murder near the public housing projects - to Willow Avenue, and who would later march to City Hall, bowed their heads as candlelight lit the street.

Montalvo prayed for the end to teen, gang, and drug-related violence. He also prayed for the community to come together and make the necessary changes so that a tragedy like this never happens again in Hoboken.

Antonio Rivera Jr., 19, of Harrison Street, is charged with shooting Mineros to death at the corner of Fifth and Jackson streets in the early morning hours of Feb. 17. At the time of the shooting, Rivera was free on $75,000 bail after being charged with attempted murder for an August shooting in Jersey City.

The family of Mineros organized the event, which was called a "March to End Teen Violence." As the marchers walked through the city's streets, they sang "We Shall Overcome" and chanted, "we will take back our streets." Nearly every elected city official was there. Mayor David Roberts, most of the members of the City Council, and Board of Education marched.

Also, officials from the Police Department, including Police Chief Carmen LaBruno, and the Hoboken Housing Authority attended.

An impassioned plea

When they reached City Hall, Harry Ordonez, Mineros' brother-in-law, said society needs to take a stand against youth violence and street gangs.

"There is a great epidemic that is spreading like a wildfire across the nation and it is finally here in our back yard," Cordoned said. "This fire does not burn on grassland, nor in our forest, but it burns our right to live. Gun violence is out of control, claiming many innocent lives every year. This year's first victim [in Hoboken], Ismar "Moonie" Mineros, was gunned down by a young man with no respect for life."

Cordoned then talked about the heartless nature of the crime.

"The [killer] fired one gunshot that entered his back, which dropped [Ismar] to the cold concrete, face down," Ordonez said. "He then proceeded to turn Ismar over, stand over his body, and pump two more rounds into to his chest."

Cordoned concluded that Hoboken is a community that will take a stand against crime and violence.

"On Feb. 17, 2006, a gunshot sent a soundwave through our community, saying 'You hard working citizen, you elders, will respect us gang-bangers or else.' I know that we are all here to say, 'No, not any more.' We will not stand quiet, we will not stand down."

Roberts, who led the march with the Mineros family, said that the municipal government would do all it can to ensure that there are no more murders in Hoboken.

Mayor leads march

"This week a fine young man lost his life to gun violence, to gang violence, and we stand in solidarity with [all Hoboken] families, police officers, elected officials, and the family members of Mookie, to make sure that we as a community join together," Roberts said. "There are young people that have a contribution to make to this world but are unable because of the violence that occurs when guns, rage, and hate are pervasive."

Councilman Ruben Ramos, a teacher in Paterson and a role model for many of the youths in the city's public housing projects, echoed the family's and the mayor's comments.

"We can't allow incidents like to take place in Hoboken," Ramos said.

He added that it's the goal of the municipal government do everything in its power to keep this situation from escalating further.

"For a community like Hoboken, one murder is already too many," Ramos said. "We aren't going to wait for a second or third murder to do something. We have to address these issues in the strongest possible way."

He added that he hopes that at a meeting scheduled for Monday, community leaders get to some of the root causes of inner city violence.

"We need to get everyone on the same page - the parents, the community at large, the school system, the police force, the prosecutor's office - everybody," Ramos said.