Mothers group hosts vigil for slain siblings
Locks placed for area’s angels who have been killed
Malissa Thomas-st. Clair and Jackie Casimire bent over a folding table, engraving the letters, “D” and “L” on gold, heart-shaped padlocks as gospel music blared from the speakers. h They then hooked the locks on the Rich Street bridge in downtown Columbus as about 40 people looked under cloudy skies and strong winds
Saturday afternoon. h “This is for Demetrius!” Thomas-st. Clair said. “This is for Londynn! Locked and loaded.” h The support group Mothers of Murdered Columbus Children held a “Locks of
Love” event and prayer vigil on the bridge for 9-year-old Demetrius
Wall-neal and 6-year-old Londynn Wall-neal, who were fatally shot Tuesday night inside a car in the parking lot of the
Winchester Lakes Apartment complex on the Southeast Side.
“We say no more!” group founder Thomas-st. Clair said of the slaying of the siblings and other killings that have set a record for homicides in Columbus in 2021. “Do you understand me? We say no more!
“Demetrius Wall-neal and Londynn Wall-neal, we will avenge this for you ... and we will do that by opening up the floodgates of heaven.”
Rhonda Clayborn, a member of the mothers group, said the locks represent all of the angels that have died from the result of gun violence.
“The city took our loved ones from us, which put a bad taste in our mouths about the city,” Clayborn said. “But we love where we are. We love Columbus, Ohio. And so, we are showing Columbus that you haven’t defeated us. We’re still here, we’re still standing, we’re still strong, and they’re (the victims) still part of this city.”
Clayborn said that in order to help curb violence in the city, people who have information about any of the city’s record 188 homicides need to speak up.
“See something, say something, know something, say something,” she said.
Later in the prayer vigil, Arnetta Davis spoke on behalf of the Jones family, the name on Demetrius and Londynn’s mother’s side. She is a friend of the family.
Davis said there are several Gofundme pages circulating online for burial expenses for the Wall-neal children, but that the official one is the account created by Shannon Reynolds, the children’s great-aunt. There is also a Gofundme page for the other shooting victim, 22-year-old Charles Wade, the boyfriend of the children’s other, which was started by his sister, Briana Bledsoe-wade.
Davis also discussed a toy drive she created in partnership with Eyeglass
Parties in Canal Winchester. People can drop off wrapped and unwrapped toys to the optician until December 22.
“On behalf of the families, they want to extend their thank yous and appreciation to the community that has poured in so much love and support,” Davis said. “It’s been a journey and we ask that you continue to pray for them.”
Several mothers affected by gun violence also participated in the event. Thomas St. Clair had at least 15 women line up at the bridge to introduce themselves and state their children’s names and the date they died.
The first person to go up was Seretha Terry, who lost her 25-year-old son, Michael Fair, in a drive-by shooting in September 2020. She wore a white and purple hoodie that read, “Forever in my heart, son” with pictures of Fair on the back.
The Gahanna resident said that prayer and spending time with mothers in the group has helped her heal, but has yet to bring closure.
“I won’t have closure ‘til there is justice for my son,” Terry said.
Another mother who spoke was Lamona Marshall, whose 25-year-old son, Roberto Marshall, was fatally shot while walking home from work in September 2017. A local American Red Cross volunteer, she was helping in flooded House when she got a phone call that her son had been killed.
Since his death Marshall, 49, has created Roberto’s Heart Foundation, where she helps victims and families of gun violence by connecting them to resources. However, the East Side resident still can’t bring herself to visit her son’s gravesite or leaf through photos of him.
The suspect involved in Roberto’s death still has not been found.
“It’s nice to come down here, and it helps because of the other mothers,” Marshall said.
“You never think it will happen to you.”
Micah Walker is the Dispatch trending reporter. Reach her at mwalker@dispatch.com or 740-251-7199. Follow her on Twitter @micah_walker701.