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In Memoriam: One year has passed since a white supremacist shot and killed 10 people at a Tops Friendly Markets store in a predominantly Black Buffalo neighborhood.
There’s the son whose mama died in the Buffalo shooting, and he can’t shake the numbness. He thinks it’s his body’s way of protecting him from bearing a grief he cannot hold. A mom remembers that her child’s father left the house to get their toddler a birthday cake, and he never came home. And then there was a “woman warrior” who wrote to a local news outlet pushing for conversations and action on solving gun violence in her neighborhood. Their lives and those of seven others ended on May 14, 2022, when a gunman murdered them on a Saturday afternoon at a Tops Friendly Markets store in Buffalo, New York. They were a former police lieutenant, sisters, advocates, mamas and daddies who died in a hate-driven massacre. On this one-year anniversary, theGrio remembers them all.
When her son was just a child, Celestine loved to bring him to the grocery store and buy all the necessary ingredients for strawberry shortcake, her favorite dessert. Though she didn’t have much, this was how she celebrated her son, Wayne Jones. The road wasn’t always easy through her 65 years; she went through breast cancer and multiple brain aneurysms but her strength prevailed. Through it all she loved her family, especially her nine grandchildren. “She was a very peaceful, sweet person and I feel like people should learn to be like that themselves,” her granddaughter, Kayla Jones told WGRZ in Buffalo last year.
Over the years, if you went to the State Tabernacle Church of God in Christ in Buffalo, chances are Heyward was one of the first people you saw in the building. The father and grandfather was a deacon but more than that, he was a man of God. “If you were down, he’d always say something to encourage you or lift your spirits,” said Penny Beckham, a member of the church. When he volunteered in a soup kitchen, he’d take people to the side and try to uplift their spirits. He’d pick up church members who couldn’t get to the church on their own. In a word, the 67-year-old was a giver.
Katherine was concerned about public safety in her community. She wrote letters to the Buffalo News calling out the gun violence in the city. “There needs to be extensive federal action/legislation to address all aspects of the issue,” she wrote in one of the few letters. “Current pursued remedies mainly inspired by mass killings — namely, universal background checks and banning assault weapons — essentially exclude the sources of our city’s gun problems.” These concerns represent the care she had for those who lived in the city, specifically the Black residents. As a member of a nonprofit group called We Are Women Warriors, her mission was to help Black people through the structural and socioeconomic disadvantages they faced in Buffalo. Katherine, who was 72 when she died in the Buffalo shooting, was a matriarch, with a deft talent for the written word. “She was our go-to person when we needed an opinion-editorial, but we needed it fast and effective — Kat was our woman,” Sherry Sherrill, a friend and a member of the same nonprofit said.
At her church, Pearl was the “grandmother to everyone.” According to her niece, Carolyn Banks, “All Pearl knew was church.” She wore many hats in the city. She was a missionary at a food pantry, a substitute teacher and a Sunday school teacher. As a mother and grandmother, the 77-year-old was comforting, loving and inspiring. She went to the University of Buffalo and graduated in her 30s while raising her kids. “She was just really happy she went back to college late in life,” her daughter Pamela Pritchett said. “For her, that was a really big accomplishment.” The accomplishment influenced Pamela as well, who went on to graduate from the same school.
Ruth was a proud Black woman and she made sure her family was proud of who they were and where they were from. When she left her house, she was perfectly dressed. But above all else, she cherished her family. “What I remember most about my mom, what I loved most about my mom, is how she loved us. How she loved our family unconditionally. How she sacrificed everything for us as she gave of herself when she had nothing else to give,” Garnell Whitfield Jr., one of her four children said. Ruth’s husband, Garnell, worked multiple jobs so she could stay home and take care of the kids. Once he moved to a nursing home, Ruth, who at 86 was the oldest of the Buffalo shooting victims, took care of him. She’d visit him daily and bring him clothes, food and anything else he needed. She left a strong impression on her children. Garnell Jr. would grow up to become the fire commissioner for the city of Buffalo.
Those who adored Roberta said her presence never went unnoticed. The 32-year-old was what her adoptive brother, Christopher Moyer, called “jubilant.” Roberta relocated to Buffalo eight years before she was gunned down to be at her brother’s side after he was diagnosed with leukemia and needed a bone marrow transplant. While her mood swings made it challenging to maintain a job, she always made time to babysit his two small children and make frequent trips to the grocery store.
Roberta lived just a 10-minute walk from the Tops store, and on that dreadful day, she proceeded on her usual route – but this time, she didn’t return. Her loved ones eventually learned she had been one of the first casualties, gunned down in the parking lot. “She was full of life,” recalled her friend and neighbor Krystle Pino, according to the Democrat & Chronicle. “Caring, happy, she cared about everyone.”
The Tops market was within a few minutes by foot from the home Margus shared with Regina Patterson. He set out that Saturday to find the chicken she wanted for dinner but was unsuccessful. Their lives changed forever shortly after he called to inquire what he should do. “He was a beautiful guy, just loving and caring, and he took care of me and his children,” Regina said, the Democrat & Chronicle reported. “He was our hero and there’s nothing that he wouldn’t do for us and his mom.” Raasha Thompson, the mother of three of Margus’ children, had happy recollections of his laughing, jokes, smile, sunglasses, and love of life, Spectrum News reported. The hard-working, dedicated father of seven, who was 52, was remembered as a fan of the Bills and someone who liked quiet walks and helping others as a school bus aide. “He just did the best he could,” Thompson recalled, according to Spectrum.
Tracey Maciulewicz will never forget May 14, 2022, when her son celebrated his 3rd birthday, but her fiancé lost his life. According to the New York Post, Andre took a trip to Tops to pick up a surprise birthday cake for the couple’s son — but he never returned. “Just a loving and caring guy,” Clarissa Alston-McCutcheon recalled of her cousin, who at 53 was a devoted grandfather and father of five.
Andre traveled approximately 120 miles from his Auburn, New York, hometown to Buffalo to see his son, though he never made it to the birthday party that day.
While a year has passed since the Buffalo shooting, Andre’s family still carries the pain of that day, believing he should still be here. “Andre was a character,” said his uncle Lee Manuel, reflecting on one year without him, Spectrum News reported. “He was funny. He liked to laugh…he loved his family. He wanted to play basketball in the younger years of his life. And then you know he had beautiful kids.”
Aaron, who was 55, served as a lieutenant with the Buffalo Police Department for over 30 years, so it was unsurprising when the man city officials called a “beloved security guard” confronted the shooter and opened fire at Tops that Saturday. Although Aaron was killed, his bravery — giving his life to save others — will never be forgotten. “I had the pleasure of knowing him, great guy, well respected, well-liked,” Buffalo Police Benevolent Association president John Evans said at the time, according to KIRO 7 News.
After the tragedy, Spectrum News reported that friends and colleagues banded together to establish the Lt. Aaron Salter Memorial Scholarship to pay tribute to him and continue his legacy by supporting Buffalo-area children in their academic endeavors.
As part of its efforts to honor his life, the group sponsoring the scholarship also promotes mental health resources.
“We call it planting the seeds of Aaron, growing new Aarons, developing new Aarons,” noted his friend Brad Pitts, Spectrum News reported, “and that’s something we’re committed to do as long as we can.”
Geraldine’s Saturday ritual reportedly involved sitting by the water with her fiancé, taking in the view and each other’s company before heading home to eat. It’s been a year since the Buffalo shooting that ritual changed forever after the couple visited Tops to grab lunch meats for sandwiches. “She wanted everything to be easy,” Talley’s cousin Kesha Chapman recalled of the devoted mother and grandmother, People reported, “and just full of love and music and peace.”
As for Geraldine’s son, Mark Talley, according to Spectrum News, he said that although he never imagined he would be a leading voice in the fight against racism and inequality, nothing was too much for his mother, who was 62. He has since expressed his feelings in a book, “5/14: The Day The Devil Came to Buffalo,” sharing the pain of a young man who would never see his mother again.
“The pain was, and still to this day, unbearable,” he said, Spectrum News reported. “I find myself numb; numb to emotions because I know my body isn’t strong enough to bear.”
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