Triple Homicide

This shrine to a triple homicide consists of just three bears and short notes written in magic marker. The killing occurred on May 31st, 2008 in the 100 block of Holbrooke St NE Washington DC.
The Washington Post reported (6/1/08- page A 1 & A 18) that "at 4:00 AM three men were fataly shot after an argument on Holbrooke St NE... Police said the dispute might have begun in a nightclub. They said 35 shots were fired by at least 2 gunmen w/ semiautomatic weapons. One victim fell dead in an alley, one collapsed in the street, & one died in a car. Police identified them as Duane Hough, 27, of the 1400 block of Trinidad St NE, Anthony Mincy of the 600 block of Morton St NW, & Johnny Jeter, 24, of the 1700 block of Holbrooke."
In the next day's paper a woman wanted the shrine removed, but councilmember Thomas said to leave the shrine alone, noting that DC Public Works personnel have been attacked when removing shrines.

This very simple shrine- three plush bears for three murders- has since been added to: liquor bottles and a few more notes.

After this horrific incident, and in response to the other recent murders in the area, Mayor Fenty and Police Chief Lanier set up a task force. The area has been blockaded by police, and anyone coming in or out of Trinidad must pass through numerous checkpoints.

The young man I mentor, Dion Johnson, has several relatives who lived on Holbrooke St and Montello Ave, in the Trinidad/Ivy City section of DC. His Aunt Rags used to live just a short way from this site, and I know the area pretty well.

Scary and sad.

Shrine to Crysta Spencer

This shrine to Crysta Spencer, who was just five years old at time of death, is at the corner of 6th St and Orleans Pl NE Washington DC. A ragged police reward poster at the site says she was killed in the middle of the block, and the driver of the car fled. A photo of the car taken by a police traffic camera is posted. She died on April 23, 2007 at 5 PM in Children's Hospital.

A prayer.

Shrine to James F. (Jamey) Brown

Shrine to Jamey Brown, 1964-1997 on the corner of Southern Ave and D St SE, on the Prince George's County side of this boundary road.

I surmise this is to an accident victim, though I am not sure. It is more permanent in nature than most in the DC area. The (artificial) flowers looked new. I have passed this site several times but never seen the flowers before. The inscribed marker with text is impossible to see from the road.

Update:
I noticed this renewal of adornment to Jamey Brown's shrine. A passerby I met near the site mentioned that this family periodically attends to the shrine, and has done so for years.

Trinidad Shrine to Melvin Seals

This elaborate - and very new - shrine to Melvin Seals is at the corner of Morse St. & Montello Ave. NE Washington DC, in the Trinidad/Ivy City neighborhood. There were two other killings in one week just blocks from this site, but no other shrines have been erected that I could ascertain.

This is the first time I had seen McDonald's food wrappers and Mike & Ike candy boxes on a shrine. I assume they were among Mr. Seal's favorites.

While I was taking these shots, an ex-girfriend of Mr. Seal's, Trina, came by on a bicycle & taked directly to the shrine, She visits every day. She spoke to me- and to the shrine itself (as though it were alive or listening)"You're not gone."
She had tears in her eyes.

There were several sullen tough young men hanging close nearby. I wondered if they knew- or were- the killer/s.

According to the Washington Post: Metro section B2 5/6/08
"Melvin Seals, 30, was killed April 26. 2008. Police were patrolling just a block away when Seals was shot at 2:00 AM in front of a community center. He was hit 17 times. He recently had graduated from a city program that led to a position with the Department of Public Works."

Dion Johnson, my young protege from Shooting Back and Streets to Skills, has many relatives living nearby. I have been in the neighborhood often, and know a number of residents pretty well - Dion's Aunt Pat and cousin Reyna especially.

Hits home. Hard on the heart.

Carver Terrace again- Shrine for Brandon Gaines

From the Washington Post: Metro section page B2 5/6/08
"Brandon Gaines, 25. His body was found at 7:30 PM April 22, 2008 near his home in the 2000 block of Maryland Ave [NE]. He had been shot multiple times. Police said they were looking into whether his shooting is tied to an investigation into a ring in the Carver Terrace area. Gaines had previous brushes with the police, dating to his teens, including a drug conviction."

There are numerous shrines all within a block or two of this recent killing. Several people observed me making these photographs, including two middle-aged men standing no more than 15 feet away - but nobody ventured to ask questions or speak to me.

Tough neighborhood, to say the least.

Tory Wilcher Shrine- Carver Terrace neighborhood

From the Washington Post: Metro section page B2 5/6/08
"Tory Wilcher, 30, was killed April 2 2008. Hours before his death, Wilcher cashed a check for plumbing work worth about $1000, and then flashed hundreds of dollars at a neighborhood dice game. Police said an argument erupted over money, and Wilcher got into a scrape with 18-year old Vincent Mills Jr. of Hyattsville [MD]. Wilcher of SE [DC], was shot in the head. His body was found about 10 PM in the 800 block of 19th St [NE]. His pockets were turned inside out, and his money was gone. Mills was arrested April 27 and charged with second-degree murder."

I spoke at length with an older neighbor, Cheryl. She was involved in the shrine-building vigil. She said Wilcher had one child, and another was on the way. Cheryl was raised on the block and said it used to be safe. Now, her grandkids and grandnieces etc., are afraid to play outside. She is scared for the safety of her son, who is a DC police officer. It's a dangerous job. "He's a good son" she said.

Greed. Violence. Another flimsy heart-rending shrine.

Brian's V Street NE Memorial

While snarled in traffic on V St NE (a long strip of warehouses and industrial buildings), I noticed this old, traditional shrine to "Brian." Plain and simple.

I could discern no other information, either at the site or through internet searches.

Someone must have cared very much.

Sursum Corda Bottle Shrine

I found this huge bottle shrine to an unidentified victim on 1st Terrace NW, Washington DC, near K St., in the troubled Sursum Corda neighborhood. It was inaccessable to me, behind a tall barbed wire fence in an abandoned grocery store parking lot. I stood on a ladder to make the photographs.

A few strewn teddy bears and T-shirts, and hundreds and hundreds of of liquor bottles. It looked as if the shrine had been there a while. One of the rare instances of finding significant grafitti in conjunction with a shrine in the District. I could find no information on this murder- one of many that have sadly occured in Sursum Corda.

Respectful Shrine to Michael R. Dempsey

I learned of this shrine to Michael R. Dempsey, located in the 800 block of Decatur St NE Washington DC, from Cosby Hunt, a teacher at DC's School Without Walls. I spoke to his class about the shrines and a lively, thoughtful discussion followed.

Mr. Hunt said this shrine was around the corner from where he lives, in a neighborhood that looks to be pretty nice generally. The shrine was alongside the Faith Friendship Church. It was the first memorial I'd seen by a church in some time. I could find no further information on the demise of young Mr. Dempsey, other than what was posted on his photo at the site. He was born July 16 1987, and died Dec. 22, 2007. Just twenty years old...

No liquor bottles...

UPDATE, December 2008:
I received a call from Michael Dempsey's older brother, a successful electrician, who wished to tell me of his brother's life, and to help leave a legacy of some kind. He told me Michael had been in a telecom apprenticeship program at the time of his death, and "was on the road to doing something with himself." He had attended Roosevelt High School, and had grown up in the neighborhood where the shrine was located. He was gunned down on 8th St NW. Mr. Dempsey's body was found in his car. He had never been in trouble, wasn't a gambler, and no one can figure out what made him a target for homicide. His brother told me that he had to identify the body; a very difficult thing to do. His killer has not yet been found. There were some leads, but as of yet there has been no conviction, no closure.

His family and friends erected the shrine as a matter of respect. It has been a very hard time for his parents, especially this past Christmas, which is near the anniversary of his death.

Lieutenant Quarles Harris Jr. Shrine

I found this shrine in the 2800 block of 12th St NE of Washington, DC.
News and police reports stated that Lieutenant Quarles Harris Jr. of Capitol Heights, MD, aged 24, was shot and killed at close range while getting into his car at about 11 PM on Thursday April 17 2008. Police said he was carrying his car keys, a muffin and a bottle of water when he was shot.

There was an elementary-school-aged boy in the yard where the shrine was located, whacking a bush furiously over & over with a homemade sword while I took the photographs.

Shrine for Gary Oliver English

The Washington Post reported that Gary Oliver English, a mechanic for Comcast, was shot and killed Monday April 14, 2008 from a gun fired out of a sports utility vehicle. He was hit multiple times. Police are investigating if the murder was gang-related.
A man, aged 60, who police called an innocent bystander, was grazed. This shrine is in the 2000 block of Lincoln Rd NE Washington DC.

Angel's Shrine

Shrine to Angel Walters 1300 Block Congress St SE Washington DC

According to a neighbor I spoke with, Mr. Raymond Wells, Angel was killed by a bus the day she moved to her new apartment. He said she was a very pretty young woman, about 20 years old. The posted sign for her funeral service is dated for Feb. 24, 2007, so this shrine is already over a year old. No liquor bottles... Angel wings on the tree.
Mr. Wells, a local handyman and artist, told me that he was often troubled by recurring nightmares, in which he passes by teddy bears and balloons on every single tree on the neighborhood's streets.

Hard knock life - and death

I came upon this shrine a block away from my assignment covering the Meadow Green Community Center, just east of the Anacostia River in Southeast DC. In my view, this shrine is ringing testament as to why effective neighborhood drop-in facilities like Meadow Green are so critically needed for the health and safety of the city's young people.

I know nothing more about the identity and circumstances of this shrine other than it was erected to a shooting victim. That's all I could get out of anybody. I talked to some pretty rough-looking young men in the 'hood, but could glean no more information. Usually, I find people open to sharinng memories, stories, reflections. This time, nobody wanted to appear to be a snitch.

And so - another piteous marker is left to publicly reveal the grievous secret failings of the human heart.

Shrine for Lizzie Mae Tanie

This lovely simple shrine, dedicated to Lizzie Mae Tanie, appears to be honoring the memory of a family member who died a natural death some years ago. Located just off the street in a small public park across the from Congressional Cemetery at the edge of DC's Capitol Hill neighborhood, it is a touching rarity in our city, in that it gently celebrates a loved one's non-violent passage into ancestry.

Update: I re-visited this shrine on October 30, 2009. It has been carefully kept up and expanded.

Shrine for Ryan Travon "Fatboy" Harris

15-year-old Ryan Travon Harris was shot in the head and killed Sunday March 16, 2008, about 2:00 AM in Washington, DC. This shrine, near his grandmother's home in the 3100 block of Apple Rd NE, is near the spot where he was found dead.

According to the Washington Post, a vigil was held the day after his murder. More than fifty local youths turned out, expressing the feeling that "he didn't deserve this." A neighborhood activist, Mr Robert King, said he was touched by the turnout for the murdered teenager, who was affectionatly known as Fat Boy, and by the determination of those at the vigil to end gun violence.The area has has generally been free of much of the city's worst crimes.

Ryan's brother Roderick Harris told the Post "He was a good person... he always made you smile."

A sad, quick end to a young life.

Prayers, tears, libations, bears, flowers, and goodbyes - again