Anonymous donor to pay for victims’ funerals
TROY, N.Y. » Less than a week after starting an online effort to raise money to bury the victims of last week’s quadruple homicide, organizers say they have been overwhelmed by the community’s support.
As of Tuesday afternoon, more than $45,000 had been raised through a GoFundMe account set up at www.gofundme.com/ peace for the myers family by Hollyanne Buntich, director of human resources at the Troy Boys and Girls Club. The page was originally set up to help pay burial expenses for the victims, but with an anonymous benefactor stepping up to cover funeral expenses, organizers say the money will instead be used to help the surviving child of one of the victims.
Shanta Myers, 36, her partner, Brandi Mells, 22, and Myers’ other two children, Jeremiah, 11, and Shanise, 5, were found dead the day after Christmas in their basement apartment at 158 Second Ave. by a property manager responding to a call asking to check on the tenants in that apartment. Myers’ oldest child, Isaiah Smith, a 10th-grader at Troy High School who has been living with his aunt for the past few months, will be able to receive professional support, as well as living expenses and money to pursue a college education, through the money raised on the GoFundMe page, officials said.
City police arrested Justin C. Mann, 24, and James W. White, 38, both of Schenectady, Friday night and charged each with one count of first-degree murder and four counts of second-degree murder, though police have yet to provided details on how the four were killed and what was the motive for the crime. Both Mann and White are being held without bail in the Rensselaer County Jail and are expected to appear Thursday morning in Rensselaer County Court for a preliminary hearing.
“[Preliminary hearings] are usually held within 120 hours of the time of arrest and used to determine if evidence against the defendant is sufficient to hold for action by a grand jury,” Jonathan Desso, spokesman for Rensselaer County District Attorney Joel Abelove, said by email Tuesday afternoon.
The GoFundMe page grew out of the desire of officials at the Troy Boys and Girls Club to help, because Jeremiah, better known as “JJ,” was an active member of the club for many years. Jerry Ford, a leader of the club’s Team Hero program, said on Tuesday afternoon the family was not yet ready to announce funeral arrangements, but he expressed gratitude to the anonymous donor and all who offered their support, either financially or spiritually.
“The amount of love and support that came from everybody was just great,” Ford said. “It’s just such a sensitive topic, but just to see so many people come together, you know, law enforcement, family, community members, especially the Troy Boys and Girls Club, they were instrumental in a lot of stuff.”
Ford said it has been a tough time for family and friends of the victims, but he said the support has helped them deal with the tragedy.
“I don’t know how we all who have been directly affected by this would have made it through without everybody coming together,” Ford said.