City crews remove locks honoring murdered children from a Columbus bridge
Locks attached to the Rich Street Bridge in Columbus served as a memorial in honor of children who lost their lives to violence in the city.The organization Mot Locks were removed from the Rich Street Bridge in Columbus, a memorial for children who died due to gun violence. The organization Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children has organized ceremonies for families to place their locks on the bridge to remember their loved ones. The city removed the locks during bridge maintenance to prevent extra weight from compromising structural safety. Jessica Jones, the grandmother of two young children who were shot and killed in 2021, said the removal of the locks felt like they lost them all over again. Malissa Thomas St. Clair, the founder of Mothers of Murderous Columbus Children, had attached about 150 locks to the bridge. The group is working with the city to return their locks to their families and discuss an appropriate memorial to their children.
Publicerad : 4 veckor sedan förbi Isabelle Hanson, https://www.facebook.com/FOX28COLUMBUS i General
Locks attached to the Rich Street Bridge in Columbus served as a memorial in honor of children who lost their lives to violence in the city.
The organization Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children has organized ceremonies for families to put their locks on the bridge and remember their loved ones.
A group of mothers started the initiative in October 2021.
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Last week, a grandmother of two young kids who died from gun violence in Columbus went to visit the locks on the bridge.
"I just felt like I needed to come see them and pulled up right here, and they were gone, and it was like I lost them all over again," Jessica Jones said. "Kinda felt like that."
Her granddaughter, Londynn Wall-Neal, died at 6 years old, and her grandson, Demetrius Wall-Neal, died at age 9. They were shot and killed in December 2021.
A spokesperson for the City of Columbus Department of Public Service said city crews removed the locks from the bridge.
"It meant a lot to us, and I thought it meant a lot to the city too, but apparently it didn’t," Jones said.
Jones said her family visited the locks on birthdays. They would bring cake and balloons to remember and celebrate them.
"There’s not anywhere -- a grave site to go and visit them, so that’s what this became," she said.
"I considered the lock a piece of my son," said Victoria Landrum, whose son, Marcus Payne, who was shot and killed in 2021.
Landrum said the removal disrespected their loved ones.
"They were our people," she said. "They’re our angels. That was my son."
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The family members also said they were not notified of the removal, and it was clear what and whom their locks represented.
"It did not have the death attached to it," said Malissa Thomas St. Clair, the founder of Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children. "It had life attached to it."
She hosts ceremonies for families to support them as they attach their locks to the bridge that overlooks the Columbus skyline.
"When we come out here, we turn at the end of the initiative to this city, and we give the souls of our angels back to the city with love, and we take out that violence, and we spread the spirit of love back into the city," Thomas St. Clair said.
"It just felt like you were really visiting him when you came here," said Brenda Johnson. "A part of him was still here."
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Johnson's son, James Johnson III, was shot and killed in the Hilltop in 2020.
"It’s kind of like we lost them again to our city," Johnson said.
Every year, Meshell Blair visited the bridge on the date her son, Cameron Kates, died.
"Today marks three years since he was killed," Blair recently told ABC 6 News.
And this year, his lock is not on the bridge to see.
"To engrave the lock and then hang it, and then to come here and it’s bare, like none of them mattered at all, and he mattered," she said. "He was 19 years old. He mattered, and he still matters."
A spokesperson for the City of Columbus Department of Public Service sent ABC6 News a statement regarding the removal of the locks from the bridge.
"The assortment of locks attached to the Rich Street Bridge were removed during bridge maintenance to prevent extra weight from compromising structural safety. The city is working with Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children to return their locks to the families, and to meet with the group to discuss an appropriate lasting memorial to their children."
"They did say in the beginning that if there was a weight issue, they would be removed, but there were not enough locks in my opinion for that to have transpired yet," Thomas St. Clair said.
She said families connected to her organization had attached about 150 locks to the bridge.
"Ours were out here for three years and withstanding weather and being weathered, and that was the beauty of the locks," she said. "When you come out here and you know that your heart has been out here for three years, they can’t replace that. Time is irreplaceable, and that’s heartbreaking."
Thomas St. Clair said she is working on a new place to remember their children, and she plans to identify and return every lock to its family.
Families who had a lock on the bridge can contact her by calling 614-721-2354 or emailing [email protected] or [email protected].
Ämnen: Crime