Call Goes Out To Families Of Victims As Homicide Memorial Opening Nears

Marlene Miller-Pratt is asking New Haveners for help in finding the families of victims of fatal gun violence.

Standing in the shadow of West Rock on a sunny Tuesday afternoon, Miller-Pratt spoke at a press conference with Mayor Justin Elicker, announcing the near completion of the New Haven Botanical Garden of Healing she created and led to construction.

“Our goal is to get out the word to moms,” she said.

Miller-Pratt appeared at the event only four days after she received surgery. ​“See my shawl?” she said. ​“It’s covering the bandages.”

Along with a core group of fellow mothers of homicide victims, Miller-Pratt led the creation of the garden in West Hills. The garden honors homicide victims and provides a peaceful place for their loved ones to remember them.

Celeste Robinson-Fulcher, whose daughter Ericka was killed in a nightclub shooting, also participated in the press conference.

Creating the garden has been a multi-year process. The mothers received $300,000 from the state, decided on a location, and got a permit. In May 2019, there was a groundbreaking ceremony, and most recently last month, the mothers planted the Tree of Life.

Now construction is almost done: Urban Resources Initiative (URI) director Colleen Murphy-Dunning estimates that it will hopefully end before the start of 2021, although Covid may cause further delays.

Before the garden opens to the public, Miller-Pratt wants to extend an invitation for families affected by gun violence to come for a private viewing. They’ll be scheduled in advance for Covid safety, and last for 30 minutes. She’s especially focused on finding the families of victims whose names are on the Magnitude Walkway, which has a brick for each homicide victim from 1976 – 2000.

Over the last two weeks, Miller-Pratt has been going around the city with a poster, filled with the names of the victims. She has focused on Newhallville, while Robinson-Fulcher and Pamela Jaynez (another member of the core group) have been going around Fair Haven.

When she stopped at corners, ​“I was ignored sometimes,” she said. But people spoke up ​“after they saw what that poster represented and saw how many names were on them.” One person, she said, turned straight around. He came back with four parents whose children were on that list. Another person saw the list and then lifted his arm to show his tattoo, which had his murdered cousin’s name. Yet others looked at the list and saw old friends.

URI members have helped find families and next-of-kin for victims.

“We have a team of Yale students and high school students who have been working for months,” said Murphy-Dunning. These students have been working for months, using online databases and extensive research that allowed URI to reach out to families via mail.

Some families have not yet been contacted. ​“Pre-Internet records, such as those in 1976, are much harder to find people,” said Murphy-Dunning. Even when families are found, ​“addresses or contacts could have changed,” added Robinson-Fulcher.

Miller-Pratt gave out her phone number: 910 – 975-2054. Any and every person who would like to schedule an early visit can contact her.

“In Loving Memory of You”

In the meantime, the garden has grown. There are now windchimes along the side of the path, ​“which create a calm atmosphere and reduce noise from the road,” said Miller-Pratt. There’s also a stone at the entrance of the garden, where each of the core mothers has a dedication to their child.

The Lost Generation sculpture is also being put up. Robinson-Fulcher went to its base and looked up in awe. ​“We took inspiration from Nelson Madela’s statue,” she said.

The statue (pictured, currently in blue wrapping) will appear as a whole family when visitors enter the park. Family members will fade as visitors walk along with Magnitude Walkway. When visitors are at the Plaza by the Tree of Life, “[they] see that family unit again,” said Miller-Pratt. ​“That lets [them] know that [they] will see them again.”

Miller-Pratt spoke to the lasting impact of the garden. ​“A lot of times you see where when someone loses a life to gun violence, we see candles in the city, we see people doing vigils, we see all these different things going on,” she said. ​“And then after a week or two, everything just dies. And people forget that there was a loss to the city.” But homicides cannot be forgotten. ​“My phrase is, for every life lost to gun violence, generations cease to exist,” said Pratt.

The plaza ensures that no loss will be forgotten. A new wall was built with memory tiles, or quotes from the mothers describing their children. ​“Their smile was contagious, personable, comical, loving, and kind,” read one tile. ​“Loved to dance! Loved music! Loved to draw!” said another. ​“Spent many years learning the sport of martial arts,” read a third. Other tiles (pictured) described family relationships, or future aspirations.

She hopes that families can come and find a serene space – whether they have a deceased loved one, or a family member affected by cancer, or a friend who has Covid. ​“This is a garden of healing,” she said.

Mayor Elicker expressed his appreciation for the project, and credited former Mayor Toni Harp for her role in helping to make it happen.

“For me, the times I’ve come to the site, it’s been an opportunity to find inspiration and hope and see the energy that the moms have put” in, Elicker said. He said he hopes people will come and reflect on both the effects of gun violence and how the city can better address it.