Michelle Knight honored and celebrated with balloon release
(Gallery by Thomas Ondrey, The Plain Dealer)
CLEVELAND, Ohio -- Eighty balloons floated into the sky Thursday evening, about one block from the house on Seymour Avenue where Michelle Knight, Gina DeJesus and Amanda Berry were held for about a decade.
Bells at the nearby Immanuelle Evangelical Lutheran church rang as more than 100 people attended the memorial event to honor Knight.
Unlike DeJesus and Berry, no rallies were held for Knight while she was missing because her name did not appear in any database and no one knew she was missing, said community activist Judy Martin, who heads Survivors/Victims of Tragedy Inc.
"We are sorry about the suffering Michelle went through," Martin said. "We want her to know that we care about her and are thinking about her. If we had known, we would have been there to help her, too."
The event, originally to held on Seymour Avenue, was moved to the corner of
Scranton Road and Mentor Ave.
One of those who attended was Alicia Lewis.
"I’m here just for support,” said the 27-year-old Cleveland woman. "This is both a happy and a horrible situation. It’s horrible what Michelle and the other girls went through, but it’s great that all three were found and not dead. Those girls are in my heart and god bless them.”
Groups involved with the event included Mothers Coming Together, Survivors/Victims and Black on Black Crime. The gathering was organized by minister Loretta Freeman to remember the least known woman among the trio held captive in the home of Ariel Castro.
"She's a butterfly now," Freeman said. "She's no longer in captivity. She needs all of us."
Knight was reported missing on Aug. 23, 2002. She was last seen at a cousin's home on West 106th Street and Lorain Avenue, about three miles from where Berry and DeJesus vanished.
Knight's mother, Barbara Knight, said her daughter was angry at the time because Michelle's son was being removed from her custody. She also said she believes police did not search for Michelle as diligently as they did Berry and DeJesus because she was considered a runaway.
Michelle Knight was never registered on the Ohio Missing Person's website.
Michelle Knight's grandmother, Deborah Knight, was at the event. She said she watched the arraignment earlier in the day of Castro.
"He needs the stiffest penalty the law can give him,” she said.
Bells at the nearby Immanuelle Evangelical Lutheran church rang as more than 100 people attended the memorial event to honor Knight.
Unlike DeJesus and Berry, no rallies were held for Knight while she was missing because her name did not appear in any database and no one knew she was missing, said community activist Judy Martin, who heads Survivors/Victims of Tragedy Inc.
"We are sorry about the suffering Michelle went through," Martin said. "We want her to know that we care about her and are thinking about her. If we had known, we would have been there to help her, too."
The event, originally to held on Seymour Avenue, was moved to the corner of
Scranton Road and Mentor Ave.
One of those who attended was Alicia Lewis.
"I’m here just for support,” said the 27-year-old Cleveland woman. "This is both a happy and a horrible situation. It’s horrible what Michelle and the other girls went through, but it’s great that all three were found and not dead. Those girls are in my heart and god bless them.”
Groups involved with the event included Mothers Coming Together, Survivors/Victims and Black on Black Crime. The gathering was organized by minister Loretta Freeman to remember the least known woman among the trio held captive in the home of Ariel Castro.
"She's a butterfly now," Freeman said. "She's no longer in captivity. She needs all of us."
Knight was reported missing on Aug. 23, 2002. She was last seen at a cousin's home on West 106th Street and Lorain Avenue, about three miles from where Berry and DeJesus vanished.
Knight's mother, Barbara Knight, said her daughter was angry at the time because Michelle's son was being removed from her custody. She also said she believes police did not search for Michelle as diligently as they did Berry and DeJesus because she was considered a runaway.
Michelle Knight was never registered on the Ohio Missing Person's website.
Michelle Knight's grandmother, Deborah Knight, was at the event. She said she watched the arraignment earlier in the day of Castro.
"He needs the stiffest penalty the law can give him,” she said.
No comments:
Post a Comment
Leave a message for Amanda Berry, Gina DeJesus, Michele Knight