This memorial to the life of Vivian "Ms. Viv" Marrow is at the entrance of the apartment complex she lived in, in Southeast Washington DC. May her memory be a blessing.
From an
NBC-TV news report: A 68-year-old woman sitting in a wheelchair died Monday after she was caught in gunfire in her southeast DC neighborhood, witnesses and DC police said. Vivian Marrow was shot about 10:20 a.m. January 16, 2017 in the 2400 block of Elvans Road SE, Washington DC, near Suitland Parkway, as she made her daily trip to a neighborhood market. The mother of three and grandmother of 11 was rushed to a hospital, where she died. Police initially believed Marrow was caught in crossfire during a gun battle, but interim Police Chief Peter Newsham said they now believe there was one shooter. "A grown man apparently had some kind of beef or dispute with someone else felt it was appropriate to fire multiple shots in this neighborhood." Friends and family wept along the street following Marrow's death. "It's really messed up," her son William Marrow said. "I don't know, really, a loss for words, because my mom was a wonderful lady... and she looked out for all my family and cousins." "It hurts us because this is our aunt, this is our last aunt, and we don't have nobody now that we can go to," her niece Adrienne Nelson said. "It hurts everybody in the family." The victim's son spoke about ongoing violence in the neighborhood. “I don't get how the young boys get involved in this war, or whatever they call it, and kill somebody innocent like her," William Marrow said. Witnesses said they heard at least a dozen shots. A man in his 20's also was shot. He was taken to a hospital and is expected to survive. His role in the shooting is unclear. Police initially said they were seeking a black man who was armed with a gun and had been wearing a silver jacket, black sunglasses and a black face mask. No one has been arrested.
Marrow often used an electric wheelchair to get around her longtime neighborhood after she was hit by a car in the 1980s. She was a fixture in the neighborhood, especially among children. "She gave out candy to the kids, soda to the kids, ice cream to the kids," Nelson said. "She was a good person. Anything she had, she'd give it to the kids." DC Mayor Muriel Bowser issued a statement "There is no excuse for this type of violence... Because someone engaged in reckless gunfire in broad daylight while others were outside trying to live their lives, we now have another family dealing with tragedy and another community rattled by the loss of a beloved neighbor." ANC Commissioner Mikelle Bassett called for action. "We all need to come together to make something happen because this is unacceptable... This is an ongoing situation that needs to be stopped."Newsham said at the crime scene as the investigation began that officers had made progress on stopping violence in the area. "We've made a lot of inroads into the crime up in this particular area. There's still some bad actors up here." William Marrow called for the killer to surrender. “Sitting around with the guilt that you did something like that for a period, then eventually you’re going to realize that you did a whole lot to a whole lot of people and someone’s going to say something, so you might as well turn yourself in.” "This violence must stop, and the person or people responsible for killing Vivian Marrow must be brought to justice," Bowser said. Vivian Marrow's family created a GoFundMe page to help fund her funeral.
From the
DC police report: Detectives from the Metropolitan Police Department’s Homicide Branch are investigating a fatal shooting that occurred in the 2400 block of Elvans Road SE, Washington DC, on Monday, January 16, 2017. At approximately 10:16 am, members of the Seventh District were flagged down in reference to a shooting. Upon arrival, members located an adult female and an adult male suffering from gunshot wounds. Both victims were transported to local hospitals where the adult female victim succumbed to her injuries and was pronounced dead. The decedent has been identified as
Vivian Marrow, 68, of Southeast, DC. The adult male was admitted in stable condition.
Thank you to Moises Gomez for his help in documenting this memorial.