A year after the slaying of Michael Brown, Ferguson residents reflect on changes.

FERGUSON, Mo. — On the eve of the anniversary of Michael Brown being shot and killed during a confrontation with a police officer, Brown’s father said Saturday that the family is still mourning the 18-year-old’s death.

Several weekend events were planned to commemorate Brown’s death, Among them was a parade Saturday led by Michael Brown Sr., starting at the memorial on Canfield Drive in Ferguson that marks the site where Brown was fatally shot by former officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9, 2014.

Time has not healed his wounds, Brown said before the procession.

“At the end of the day, I still lost my boy,” he said. “I’m still hurting. My family’s still hurting.”

Brown said the anniversary brings back all of the grief and raw emotions, but that it’s important to continue standing up to concerns about police brutality and the use of force. His son’s death helped spur a national “Black Lives Matter” movement. As the parade began, he took an armful of stuffed animals and placed them in the middle of the street where his son died.

Onlookers were mostly scattered in small clusters on Saturday. Ferguson interim Police Chief Andre Anderson stood alongside St. Louis County Police Chief Jon Belmar and Capt. Ron Johnson of the Missouri State Highway Patrol on West Florissant Avenue — the site of protests, looting and riots in the aftermath of Brown’s death — waving to parade participants and shaking hands with some.

A vocal group of about 30 people marching in the parade began chanting “Hands up! Don’t shoot!” as they neared the officers. Otherwise, the crowd was peaceful. Police presence was limited mostly to officers at intersections keeping traffic away from the parade, and there were no immediate reports of confrontations.