IBERVILLE PARISH - 17-year-old minister Geremiah Willams says he sees a big problem in his community.

"Violence is not the key," Williams said. "Violence won't solve anything."

Williams asked the people of Iberville Parish to come together after gun violence lead to the death of a boy his same age. Last weekend, DeShannon Woods was shot and killed by a 16-year-old when he and a friend tried to rob them.

"When I arrived at the scene Sunday night, Jeremiah was there," Sheriff Brett Stassi said. "We had a lot of people out there, and a lot more people out there during the shooting than we have here today, but that doesn't matter. It doesn't matter how many people come. It matters that those kids sitting over there hear the word of Geremiah."

It's a word that is strongly seeded in faith and family.

"We're going to stick together," Williams said. "We're going to work this thing out. We know that this murder that happened a couple days ago was awful, but we're going to pull together as a community, we're going to hold together as a community, and we're going to work it out."

Stassi and Williams are planning a gun buy-back day where people can turn in their guns for $50 each.