Memorial to Antoine Buckner

A memorial to Antoine Buckner, 32, was built in the 600 block of 46th Place NE, Washington DC.
On May 30 2010 at 10:25 pm, police were sent to investigate the sounds of gunshots in the 600 block of 46th Place NE. Officers responded to the scene and found a male victim, Antoine Buckner, lying unconscious on the concrete, suffering from a gunshot wound. He was transported to a local hospital in critical condition. On June 3, 2010 he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead.

Neighbors told me that the shrine was initially "very large and beautiful." The burn marks were caused by a candle left by a loved one that tipped over and sparked a fire.

Jermaine Jones- Trinidad Avenue

This memorial to Jermaine Jones, who perished at the age of 36, is in the 1700 block of Trinidad Avenue NE, Washington DC, an area that has been greatly wracked by violence over the past few years.
On June 7, 2010 police investigated a report of a stabbing, and found an unconscious male victim in this block. He was transported to a nearby hospital and was pronounced dead. A preliminary report revealed that the stabbing occurred nearby, in the 1200 block of Simms Place NE.

Mr. Jones had lived in the 2000 block of Alabama Avenue SE.

Memorial to Anh-Dao Xuan Hyunh

This shrine to Anh-dao Xuan Huynh is on Washington Circle NW, Washington DC.
Adapted from the GW Hatchet
Family members say Anh-Dao Xuan Hyunh,25, died April 6, 2010 after being struck by a large SUV on Washington Circle.
They believe she was walking to the Foggy Bottom Metro station when the vehicle struck her. Huynh died at 2:13 pm after she stopped breathing. She was hit by the vehicle between 11 am and noon, according to eyewitnesses.
Family members gathered at the site that evening to honor Huynh with candles, balloons and prayer, remembering the young woman who brought “joy, love and happiness” into their hearts.
“I can’t live anymore, I’ve lost my soul,” the deceased’s youngest sister Trinh Huynh said. “She wasn’t only my sister, she was my best friend. She understood me better than anyone else in the world.”
Huynh’s brother-in-law, Keith Graham, added Huynh was a “sweet spirit” who touched all who knew her.

Peace to all.

RIP Oscar Rubio

This shrine to Oscar Rubio is in the 800 block of Crittenden Street, NW, Washington DC.

From the DC police report: On Monday, May 31, 2010, at approximately 2:33 am, units from the Fourth District received a radio run to respond to the 900 block of Decatur Street, NW, for a subject shot. Upon their arrival, they discovered a male victim suffering from a gunshot wound. He was transported to an area hospital and admitted. At approximately 2:40 am, a second radio run was dispatched for a second victim located in the 800 block of Crittenden Street, NW.
The male victim was transported to an area hospital where he succumbed to his injuries and was pronounced dead at 3:44 am. The decedent is identified as Oscar Rubio, 21, of the 800 block of Decatur Street NW. The identity of the surviving victim is being withheld as he is a witness in this case. Detectives are investigating an Armed Robbery as the motive.

Candles and flowers for Oscar. May all concerned have peace, strength, and comfort.

Possible shrine at 9th and Buchanan Streets NW

These balloons may be a shrine remnant near the corner of 9th Street NW & Buchanan Street NW, Washington, DC.

All I could find about the site was:
"Homicide: Gun
Midnight (11 p.m. to 7 a.m.) shift on May 31, 2010"

No other information was available yet - and these balloons may or may not be a shrine to the victim, though they were on or near the site of the reported murder.

Ghostbike for Constance Holden

Ghostbike at the corner of 12th Street and New York Avenue NW, Washington, DC. It was placed by the Washington Area Bicycle Association in memory of cyclist Constance Holden, 68, who was killed in a collision with a truck April 13, 2010.

From: http://washcycle.typepad.com/.a/6a00d8345198c369e201347fdc210e970c-popup
and the Washington Post.
The cyclist killed in Monday's deadly crash with a military truck was identified yesterday as Constance Holden, a writer and an artist. She was a frequent bike commuter.

All day long, beneath the windows of her building, motorcades of black sport-utility vehicles carrying presidents and prime ministers to and from a nuclear summit had been passing on New York Avenue, escorted by police cars and motorcycles with lights flashing and sirens screaming. City dump trucks and military vehicles had been used all day to block intersections against suicide bombers.

Two DC National Guard trucks were being rolled into position by a guide wearing a yellow reflective vest. A witness said Holden heeded a warning to step back toward the curb.

The second truck hit her.

Four people, one in military uniform, a traffic control officer, and two civilians, rushed to her side and called for help.

A DC police spokesman said it has not been determined whether the driver or Holden was at fault.

The Washington Area Bicyclist Association placed a white "ghost bike" near where Holden was killed.

Shrine to Dezmine Perkins, 16 years old

This shrine to Dezmine (or Dezmoine) Perkins, 16 years of age, is outside 535 Edgewood Street NE, Washington DC.

About 11:00 PM on May 1st, 2010, young Mr. Perkins was found suffering from multiple gunshot wounds, and was pronounced dead at a nearby hospital. According to the Washington Post, his neighbors said that he was a respectful young man who liked playing basketball and football. His aunt shared that he was a good kid, and that this should not have happened.

Peace to his soul and to the hearts of his friends and family.

And may justice reign.

He was killed in the same block as Kenyetta Nicholson-Stanley, also a teenager, who was slain during October 2009. Her shrine is still standing, and kept in good shape.

See also:
http://dcshrines.blogspot.com/2009/10/sad-eyes-for-kenyetta-nicholson-stanley.html
Visited with Danny Harris of www.peoplesdistrict.com

Shrines for Brian Betts; beloved school principal

Brian Betts, 42, principal of Shaw Middle School at Garnet-Patterson in Washington DC, was found shot April 15, 2010, in his home in the 9300 block of Columbia Boulevard, Silver Spring MD.
Police said Betts was found dead of "at least one" gunshot wound after co-workers, concerned over his absence, visited his house and found the door unlocked.
His vehicle was missing, as was some property in his home. The car was recovered fourteen miles away, in Southeast DC. There was no sign of forced entry, or ransacking. Montgomery County Police Chief J. Thomas Manger said, "It's still possible this was a random killing, but right now we don't think so."
DC Schools Chancellor Michelle A. Rhee stated "potentially more than any other principal in this city, these children are going to be devastated because they have such an intense relationship with him," she said. "I never talked to Brian at any point where he didn't have kids with him."
Friends, relatives and colleagues of Betts's regarded his intense devotion to his students as the defining qualify of his life. “The worse the kids were, the more he wanted to teach them," a friend said.
Every morning, Betts would stand at the school hugging students as they arrived, hurrying some along, and chatting with parents.
"He was like a watchman," said Tanya Bey, mother of two students at Shaw - all of whom had Betts as their godfather. "He watched out for the children and everything that didn't look right: drugs, guns, violence."

These memorials have been left outside his home and on the front steps of the school. An official memorial service has been planned in his memory.
Betts's house has a tragic history. In 2002, Erika Smith, 9, and her father, Greg Russell, were murdered there by an intruder.

-adapted from a Washington Post article