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

Collective Shrine for Tavon Nelson, Brishell Jones, Devaughan Boyd, William Jones III, and Jordan Howe

From DC police reports. There has been a lot of material in the media on this mass laying, which allegedly originated over a missing bracelet.

This large shrine really got to me.

At 7:30 pm on Tuesday, March 30, 2010, officers assigned to the 7th District responded to sounds of gunfire in the unit block of Galveston Street SW, and to reports of multiple shooting victims at South Capitol and Brandywine Streets, SE, Washington, DC.

On Galveston Street SW, officers located Tavon Nelson, 17, who was transported to an area hospital and pronounced dead.
Officers who responded to S. Capitol & Brandywine Streets SE, where eight gunshot victims were located. They observed a vehicle fleeing the area and initiated pursuit with helicopter assistance into Prince George’s County, MD, and back into DC.

During the pursuit, an AK-47 style assault rifle was thrown from the vehicle, and recovered. The pursuit continued to the area of Yuma and Atlantic Streets SE, where the vehicle crashed and four suspects fled on foot. Officers pursued them, resulting in the detention of three of the four suspects. Nathaniel Dwight Simms, 26, Orlando Carter, 20, and a 14-year-old juvenile male, all of whom reside in SE DC, have been charged with First Degree Murder While Armed. The search for the 4th suspect is ongoing.

William Jones, III, 19, 16-year-old Ms. Brishell Jones, 16, and Mr. Devaughn Boyd, 18 were slain.

The surviving victims were transported to hospitals. Their identities are being withheld because they are witnesses in the case.

“This is a horrible, senseless tragedy, and my thoughts and prayers go out to the families, friends and neighbors of the victims,” said Mayor Adrian M. Fenty. “We commend our first responders for their swift action that saved the lives of several victims and lead to the arrest of three of the suspects this case. Police will work around the clock to ensure this case is brought to closure.”

Related: At approximately 12:30 am March 22, 2010, Jordan Howe, 20, of the 3200 block of Buena Vista Terrace, SE. was discovered by police in the 1300 block of Alabama Ave SE, suffering from apparent multiple gunshot wounds. He was transported to a hospital where he was pronounced dead.
Nineteen-year-old Sanquan Carter of Southeast Washington was arrested in Northwest Washington March 23, 2010. He has been charged with Murder Two While Armed in the homicide of Mr. Howe. His brother, Orlando Carter has been charged in the mass shootings.

Lorenzo Steven Smith Jr RIP

From police and news reports:
March 3, 2010 2:12 am - Two men were found with gunshot wounds in the 3400 block of Dallas Drive, Temple Hills, MD. Both were taken to the hospital, where one man died.
The slain man was Lorenzo Steven Smith, Jr., 35, of the 3900 block of Dent Street, Capitol Heights, MD
A second victim, 33, was also shot and transported to a local hospital, where he is expected to survive. Both victims have extensive criminal backgrounds.

This police tape was at the edge of a bowling alley parking lot.

RIP Lee / Murda Squad

I came upon this graffiti in the 1200 block of W St NW, Washington, DC, near the BET studios. I have no information on Lee. This memorial appears older, and is very near the tags for "Murda Squad"
I was looking for a shrine to Isadoro Flores, of Arlington, who was found suffering from a gunshot wound in this block at 2:30 am 3/27/10. He was pronounced dead at Washington Hospital center. There was only an exceptionally tiny scrap of police crime tape at the end of the block that marked that anything had happened.

Gentleness now to you all, in whatever way that could possibly occur.

Memorial for Morgan Myatt - RIP

Excerpted from the Washington Post Metro section, Friday, March 26, 2010.
A woman who was fatally shot in Fairfax County on Wednesday was identified as Morgan Myatt, 23, of Holly Street NW in the Washington DC, and the man accused of killing her was identified as Antoine T. Avery, 25, of Spotsylvania, VA.
Myatt was shot as she sat in a car near Orinda Court in the Mount Vernon area about 7:25 am. The gunman fled. Later Wednesday, police in Arlington, VA, responded to a report of a man with a gun in the 1200 block of South Quincy Street. As officers arrived, Avery shot and killed himself.
Fairfax police think that Myatt and Avery had been in a relationship. Myatt's Facebook page indicates that she has a 3-year-old son.

Peace to the child, and to all.

There was no shrine at the site of the suicide, which is about a mile and a half from my own neighborhood.