RIP "Head"

I visited this shrine to "Head" in the 3000 block of 30th St SE, Washington DC

The only name I have so far, is on the shrine as "Head." I found no name in police or news reports.

I found four "blunts"- mixtures of small cigars mixed with marijuana, on the shrine (a first in my experience). Several folks asked me what I was doing there - the neighborhood was unusually tense and defensive, and I have been in scores of similar situations. I only got that "Head" was young.

According to DC police, at approximately 9:14 pm, on Thursday April 9, 2009, members of the Department’s 7th District responded to a report of a shooting. Upon arrival on the scene, officers located an unidentified adult male suffering from apparent multiple gunshot wounds. Emergency personnel responded to the scene to initiate life saving measures, but found no signs consistent with life. The victim was pronounced dead on the scene & transported to the Office of the Chief Medical Examiner for the District of Columbia.

Mystery, fear, and heartache.

Flowers for Eugene Francis Neale Sr.

This small floral memorial is to Eugene Francis Neal Sr., of Hamlin St NE, Washington DC

At approximately 1:00 am, on Wednesday March 25, 2009, police responded to the intersection of 16th & Hamlin Sts. NE for the sounds of gunshots. Officers located an adult male suffering from apparent multiple gunshot wounds lying in the 1500 block of Hamlin St. Emergency personnel responded to the scene, but found no signs consistent with life. The victim was pronounced dead on the scene.
The victim has been identified as Eugene Francis Neal, Sr., 52, of the 1500 block of Hamlin Street, NE.

According to NewsChannel 8, the family is heartbroken. Mr. Neal, a Metro station manager, was gunned down about 1/2 hour after he got off work.

Neal's family says the man's teenage son, 14-year-old Eugene Neal Jr., was the center of his father's life. "He was a great man. He taught me a lot of things. He always kept me on the straight & narrow... They took my father from me. They took my friend. They took my feeling of safety in my own home."

"...My son didn't deserve to die. He didn't deserve to die this way," said Mary Neal, the victim's mother. "Please, please. If you know anything, turn yourself in," she pleaded.

The family says Neal wasn't robbed. They say his truck, keys & wallet were all with him. "They didn't steal anything. They didn't want anything. They just killed him."

No murder makes sense to me. This one seems particularly tragic and incomprehensible. I send a prayer to his family for stength.

Elwood C. Wallace, slain vendor

This shrine to Elwood Wallace is in the 2800 block of Good Hope Rd SE, Washington DC

DC police announced an arrest for the murder of Elwood Carl Wallace. Ronnell Calvin Knight, 54, of DC has been charged with Murder 1 While Armed.
Shortly before 6 pm on Friday March 27, 2009, police responded to the 2800 block of Good Hope Road SE, to investigate the report of a shooting. Upon arrival, officers found Elwood Carl Wallace, 52, of Upper Marlboro, MD, suffering from a gunshot wound. Emergency medical personnel could find no life signs. Mr. Wallace was pronounced dead on the scene.

According to the Washington Post, two witnesses allegedly saw Knight walk up behind Wallace and shoot him once in the back of the head in front of a vacant storefront, and then take off running.

Local residents erected this memorial on a tree near the site of the shooting, where Wallace sold lotion and oils from his sidewalk table.

I spoke to a pretty young book vendor whose tables are right next to this shrine. Apparently the two men in question had an argument earler in the day. She said the killing was in daylight. She got teary & quiet when speaking.

Shrines to William L. Bennett (Lt. Col, US Army Ret., and his wife, Cynthia Bennett

These roadside shrines are to William L. Bennett (Lt. Col, US Army Ret.), 57, and to his wife, Cynthia Bennett, 55, near the intersection of Rocky Creek Road and Riverside Parkway, in the Landsdowne area of Loudon County VA.
Landsdowne is a relatively new, spacious, and prosperous development community near the outer rim of Washington DC's Virginia suburbs.
According to the Washington Post, on March 22, 2009, at about 5:30 AM, police responding to reports of a suspicious white van, found the body of Mr. Bennett along Riverside Pkwy, and his terribly injured wife Cynthia in a ditch nearby. Both had been beaten, he to death. Mrs. Bennett remains in critical condition in a hospital under sherriff's guard. No concrete details of why the attack occurred are yet known. Colonel Bennett was an Iraq war veteran and a contractor for the CIA. A large march and shrine-side vigil was held by friends, family and neighbors one week after the murder. A local choir sang the hymn " Come By Here, Lord." Mr. Bennett was remembered as a family man, an avid long-distance hiker, and a diligent worker.

Cynthia Bennet's shrine consists entirely of flowers.

To justice, and to healing.

Update: Loudon County authorities have arrested Darwin Bowman, 18, of Annandale VA, and a 17-year old male from Sterling VA. in Mr. Bennett's killing. The attack is believed to have been a random "robbery gone bad." Prosecutors are assessing whether Mr. Bowman will face a death penalty at his trial. Additional arrests are likely.

Mrs. Bennett is now slowly recovering from her injuries.

Tyson Eldridge's shoes

These sneakers hanging over a wire are in memorial to Tyson Eldridge, 26. They are in front of his home in the 300 block of 37th Street SE Washington DC. He was killed by a stab wound on August 20, 2007 in the 1300 block of Corbin Place SE DC.

There is another shrine in this block, not 200 feet from where Mr. Eldridge's shoes are hang spinning in the breeze.
see:
http://dcshrines.blogspot.com/2009/02/washington-monuments-both-kinds.html

When will we, as a species, as individuals, learn the clear wisdom of the Sixth Commandment "You shall not kill."

Tai Lam; downtown Silver Spring shrine

This particularly emotion-laden shrine to Tai Lam, 14, is in the 900 block Ellsworth Avenue of Silver Spring, Maryland. The memorial in this busy mall area was erected and maintained by his friends and classmates at Montgomery Blair High School because Tai, a popular student, liked to hang out there.

According to the Blair High School newspaper, "Montgomery County police arrested Hector Mauricio Hernandez, 20, of Takoma Park, for the murder of young Mr. Lam. Hernandez is a member of the MS-13 gang.
Lam, & two others, aged 14 and 15, boarded a bus in Silver Spring with a large group of friends on Nov. 2, 2008. The three boys were shot around 11 p.m. after a verbal exchange with a group of older men. When the bus stopped at Arliss Street. & Piney Branch Road, the older group exited the bus. One of them fired into the back of the bus, hitting Lam and two other boys, who attend Blair & Northwood High School.
Tai Lam died later that night. The other boys were taken to Georgetown Hospital in critical condition. Both have since been released."

It is the first shrine to a murder I have encountered in Montgomery County.

Triple Homicide - shrine to Erica, Eric and Dakota Peters

This shrine is in honor and memory of Erica Peters, 36 and her chidren Eric, 11, and Dakota, 10, who were killed March 21st in their apartment (2000 Maryland Ave NE, Washington DC ) apparently by the children's father Joseph Randolph Mays, who was arrested (he wounded himself- the murder weapon was a knife). A third child, who was also wounded in the crime, was placed with DC Child protective services.

The Carver Terrace neighborhood has been the scene of many bloody incidents. There is yet another older shrine to a murder viictim visible from the courtyard of this modest apartment building.

I met a man, Roland, 53, at the site. He lives in the building. His grandkids, whom he takes care of, woke him up to see the bodies being carried out. He said over & over "It hurt." The kids are afraid it may happen to them. They played with the Peters kids often. He prays for more police protection in the neighborhood, to end this danger. The grandkkids are having nightmares. He spoke of loss, fear... how do you explain this to children? He said that Ms. Peters was kind, friendly, and only went to her job, church, and took care of her children.

At his arraignment, the alleged murderer of his wife and children expressed no remorse.

Teddy bears and balloons. And broken lives.

Kevo RIP

Graffitti memorial to "Kevo" - on a bus stop in front of a Post office
at 2341 Pennsylvania Ave SE, Washington DC.

I could find no more information on Kevo or this shrine.

R.I.P.

Shrine to Jelani Slay

This shrine to Jelani Slay, 34, of Clinton MD, is in front of 5309 B St SE, Washington DC. Mr. Slay was shot March 6 2009 by an off duty police officer. According to published reports, "police said Slay, wearing a mask and brandishing a gun, tried to rob the officer in the 5300 block of B St SE.

Slay, who had a record of armed robberies and other crimes dating back to the 1990s, was hired as a Metrobus driver two months after getting out of prison, where he spent nearly 11 years. Court records show that he was charged with voluntary manslaughter after he fatally shot an armed man during a dispute on a D.C. street in March 1992. A grand jury declined to indict him in the case.

A month later, police said, Slay & 3 acquaintances robbed 2 D.C. men of cocaine, cash & a weapon. One of the victims was shot to death by one of Slay's accomplices, police said. Slay was charged with felony murder & several other offenses.

That summer, in a separate case, he also was charged with selling cocaine and illegal gun possession. In a deal with prosecutors, he pleaded guilty to reduced charges in the cases and, because he was still a teenager, was sentenced to probation. In April 1996, though, after he robbed two men at gunpoint in the District, he was given a prison sentence. He stayed there until January 2007.

Because Slay's last felony occurred more than a decade before he applied for a Metro job - he was in prison all those years - his criminal record did not disqualify him, Metro spokeswoman Candace Smith said."

But still, it's a tragedy. And someone cared enough to honor and remember him.

Ebony and Delores DeWitt; mother and daughter

This shrine to Ebony and Delores DeWitt, slain mother and daughter, is in the front yard of 9704 Cedarhollow Lane Largo MD, a quiet, well-kept suburban neighborhood. Their charred bodies were discovered in the remains of a burning car reported stolen from a nearby home.

The DeWitt's are the second grown mother-daughter pair to be murdered in this neighborhoood recently.
In January, Karen and Karissa Lofton were found shot in their home about half a mile away. According to the PG Gazette, this has "prompted police to assign more than two dozen investigators to those cases.

Connected or not, detectives say each set of killings is baffling in its own right. The absence of an obvious suspect or motive - an angry ex-boyfriend, a drug deal gone bad -- has made the slayings more unsettling for residents than any in years in Prince George's."

I was given permission by the family to photograph the shrine. They looked deeply mournful. I pray they get some answers, and some peace.

Peace.

Christopher Quattlebaum's Memorial

This shrine to Christopher Quattlebaum (Uncle Chris on his memorial tee shirt) is in front of a busy liquor store, located at 6460 Central Ave, Seat Pleasant MD (in Prince George's County).

Police found Mr. Quattlebaum, 48, of Red Jade Dr, in a car with stab wounds to his upper body. He was taken to a local hospital, where he died, on 8/24/08. Police believe he approached his killer for unknown reasons, and may have tried to punch him before he was stabbed.

I could find no other information.