“Hearing Zyion’s mom cry out, hearing her weep, hearing her shed tears in her pain and anguish in this conversation, is why I am saying we need to do this right now.”

Atlanta city councilmember Keisha Sean Waites says hearing Zyion Charles’ mother speak to council members Monday during its Public Safety Committee meeting was powerful. Enough so that Waites wants to advance - as soon as possible - a plan to institute a mandatory earlier citywide curfew.

Her push comes in the wake of the deadly gunfire near Atlantic Station Saturday night among a group of young people. Six were shot. 12-year-old Zyion died, while five others were wounded - one critically.

Currently, Atlanta has on the books an 11 p.m. curfew for teens without supervision. Waites says new legislation just drafted would make it a 7 p.m. curfew for those 17 years old and younger. She calls this “a stopgap measure to save the lives of family members and our neighbors until we develop a (long-term) solution.”

She also tells WSB Radio her drafted legislation would mandate “businesses, retail vendors who have experienced historical patterns of violence - we know Atlantic Station has been one of those locations - is that they integrate (their commercial grade cameras) into (the Atlanta Police Department’s Video Integration Center).

“We don’t want to send the message that we don’t want young people to have fun. That is not what we are saying. What we’re saying is is that when you have large gatherings of young people, they need to be supervised,” says Waites.

The legislation for the earlier curfew is in the draft stage. Waites says she’s hopeful it will be presented to full council next Monday, followed by consideration of the Public Safety Committee before a full council vote.

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