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Victims of unsolved murders honored
By JOHN W. GOODWIN JR.
YOUNGSTOWN
Nancy Stanford spent most of Saturday grilling hot dogs, slicing cake and stirring potato salad, but the afternoon picnic was a bit different from other summer gatherings.
Stanford organized the event in Mill Creek MetroParks for the families of murder victims whose deaths are unsolved. Her son Keith Stanford, 39, was killed in September 2009. His killer has never been found.
A quick walk through the park’s Pioneer Pavilion made it clear why the dozens of participants had come together.
Enlarged pictures and story boards with the faces of deceased loved ones lined several walls. Phrases such as “gone but not forgotten,” or “rest in peace” were written across many of the images. Most of those attending the picnic wore shirts with the likeness of a murdered loved one across the front.
Stanford said the idea to come together with other families experiencing the unsolved murder of a loved one came to her after praying over how to cope with the loss of her son.
“I asked God to show me something to do on the anniversary of [my son’s] death. I got a group of people, family and friends of his, together and we organized this,” she said. “We are going to do this every year, and [have] other events to keep the public informed that there are murders in Youngstown that are not being solved.”
Inside the pavilion were dozens of participants and just as many emotional stories about family members and friends violently taken away with no answers or closure for the families.
Cheryl Boudrey of Salem could not hold back tears as she spoke about her 61-year-old brother, Arthur Gilmore, who was strangled to death in his Salem home not long after retiring in September 2009. No arrest has been made.
Marianne Muldrow and Geneva Riley are sisters who say they just want closure when it comes to the death of their 33-year-old nephew, Albert Byrd. Byrd was reported missing in December 2007, and his body has never been found.
“It’s sad that I don’t know what they did to him,” Muldrow said. “His family does not have any closure. His kids don’t have any closure. I just wish whoever did whatever they did would just give us something so that we can have some closure.”
Lillian Peeples’ sisters were killed within six months of each other on the city’s East Side in late 1994 and early 1995. The picnic, she said, is a means of keeping her sisters’ memories alive.
“People notice when you stand up and say these people were killed and nothing is being done about it. Something should be done,” she said.
Brenda Parker spent the afternoon standing near a story board covered with the faces of 12 young people who were all killed with no resolution of their cases. Her daughter’s face was a prominent part of the display. Parker’s daughter, 22-year-old Danielle Parker, along with three other people, was shot and killed in a home on the city’s South Side nearly four years ago. No arrest has been made.
“It’s sad, and it’s hard,” she said. “I have nieces that are her age, and I think about the fact that I will never have another grandchild or get to see her walk down the [wedding] aisle.”
Being in the presence of others with similar experiences is what brought Lawanna Dow to the picnic. Her son, 28-year-old James Dow, was murdered in November 2007. Two of the four men accused in the crime were let go after a mistrial in court.
“This [picnic] makes you feel a little better to know you are not the only person going through this, and maybe we can help each other,” she said.
Coming together and the search for closure make up the purpose of the event, Stanford said.
“We all just want answers, and I want to keep these murders out there in the public eye,” she said.
Stanford also hopes to start a fund to help pay for the funeral expenses for those killed in violent crimes.