Benefit to help kids, raise awareness

Book bags and school supplies will be given to children in attendance.

By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.

VINDICATOR TRUMBULL STAFF

GIRARD — Cindy Michael had the opportunity to buy her grandson only one book bag before his life was taken.

Another grandson was taken at too young an age to ever need a book bag.

Now, Michael and other family members are offering book bags to other children in hopes of keeping her grandsons’ memory alive and the circumstances of their deaths on the minds of law enforcement.

It has been nearly two years since someone took the life of city resident Lena Cross, then set her house on fire — also taking the lives of her two children Mason Cross, 5, and Christian Pizzulo, 2.

Cross, 22, died of multiple stab wounds, and her young sons died of smoke inhalation in the fire that tore through their duplex at 413 Dearborn St. on Sept. 12, 2005.

Family members, via the Lena, Mason and Christian Memorial Fund, will be hosting a “fun-filled day for kids” from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday in Tod Park. Book bags and school supplies will be given to children in attendance.

The event will also include hot dogs, face painting and crafts for those in attendance. There will also be juggling, magic shows, puppet shows and an appearance by Jocko the Clown.

“Different people deal with grief in different ways,” said Michael. “We established the Lena, Mason and Christian fund and that was to do good things for kids. This is a coping mechanism.”

Raising awareness

Michael said she is hoping to raise awareness about the acts of violence committed against children on the local and national level, to show that more should be done to protect young people.

Michael said praying for other young people will be a large part of Saturday’s festivities.

“Every day there are more and more of these babies being hurt and murdered, so we are going to pray for Lena, Mason and Christian and all of the babies in our community,” she said.

For Karen Booth, the mother of Lena Cross, the search for answers to who is responsible for the murder of her daughter and grandchildren continues. She said the family refuses to stop searching until someone is held responsible for the crime.

“So far no one will tell me anything. It’s really frustrating because it’s coming up on the two years and we just want some answers,” she said. “I have been trying to reach someone from the national news, but no one has returned my e-mail.”

Booth and other family members have hired private investigators to look into the matter. She said the family is waiting to hear from those investigators and still doing the best it can to cope with the loss of Lena and her sons.

“We are just taking it day by day,” she said.

Those looking to show the family support can get a bumper sticker at Saturday’s event that reads: “Justice for Lena, Mason and Christian murdered 9/13/05.”

jgoodwin@vindy.com