Honoring a murdered mother and her children

Photo by: William D. Lewis

The Vindicator (Youngstown)

Photo

Cindy Michael, who founded the Lena, Mason, Christian Foundation to remember the three murder victims, holds a flyer for a benefit spaghetti dinner on Saturday that will feature a basket raffle. The dinner funds projects that help children.

Woman keeps memories alive while helping children

By LINDA M. LINONIS

linonis@vindy.com

GIRARD

The murders of Lena Cross and her children, Mason, 5, and Christian, 22 months, weigh on the mind and heart of Cindy Michael of Warren.

Her son, Joe Pizzulo, also of Warren, was engaged to Cross when she was stabbed to death Sept. 13, 2005, in her home in the Parkwood area of Girard, near Brier Hill. Her children died of smoke inhalation in a fire set to cover up her murder.

Michael said the event seemed surreal then; it remains difficult to understand now. “It wasn’t until we were at the funeral home and Miriam Fife came that I comprehended it was murder,” Michael said. Fife is victim-witness advocate in Trumbull County.

Michael recalled the day of the fire. She said a friend called and said Cross’ house was on fire. Michael tried calling Cross but got no answer. “I knew something was wrong,” she said.

She and her husband, Ken MacPherson, drove to Girard, and when they got to the house, an ambulance was pulling away. “We found out they were all dead,” she said. “I felt like someone sucker punched me in the stomach,” Michael said.

Some people would be paralyzed by the horrific act. Michael opted for action. “I didn’t want their memory to slip away into nothingness — like they had never existed,” she said.

“There was an outpouring of concern, and people sent me money. I didn’t know what to do with it, and then it came to me,” Michael said. A bookbag that Michael had bought for Mason and found in the fire debris provided the inspiration for the Lena, Mason, Christian Foundation. It was her way of keeping their memory alive, and by doing so, helping other children.

A benefit spaghetti dinner, sponsored by Michael and family and Mahoning-Trumbull AFL-CIO Union Counselors, provides funds for projects that reach out to children. It raises between $5,000 and $6,000. Michael, who is vice president of the union counselors, said volunteers from the organization “run the kitchen” for the dinner and “do it out of the kindness of their hearts.”

The money underwrites an annual Kids Fun Free Day and Bookbag Giveaway in August at Tod Park. Last year, Michael said, they distributed 365 bookbags with supplies.

The money also has helped a seriously ill little girl from Niles and sent her to Disneyland and assisted a woman raising the children of her murdered sister. Michael said the foundation has aided about 27 children in various ways.

Every so often, Michael pays for a billboard that has photos of Cross and her children and asks for help to solve the murders. “We believe in our hearts that people know something and just aren’t coming forward,” she said.

Girard Police Chief Jeff Palmer said the department continues to get sporadic phone calls about the murder. “It remains an ongoing investigation,” he said, adding that the police have evidence and have conducted many interviews.

Capt. John Norman is now in charge of the case; he and Michael plan to meet soon. Palmer said the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification and Investigation is reviewing the case.

Detective Mike Begeot of Hubbard Township Police Department, a member of Trumbull County Homicide Task Force, said he believes someone out there “knows something” but is afraid to come forward.

Anyone with information should call GPD at 330-545-0211 or Help Hotline at 330-746-2583.