Families question why city removed memorial for victims of deadly block party shooting

CHARLOTTE — Four people died two years ago in a shooting at a Juneteenth celebration in west Charlotte, and their families recently discovered that a memorial to honor the victims vanished.

[PAST COVERAGE: CMPD: 181 rounds fired during deadly Beatties Ford shooting]

Four people died two years ago in a shooting at a Juneteenth celebration in west Charlotte, and their families recently discovered that a memorial to honor the victims vanished.

[PAST COVERAGE: CMPD: 181 rounds fired during deadly Beatties Ford shooting]

Channel 9 learned Thursday that the city of Charlotte removed the memorial at Beatties Ford Road and Lasalle Street, near Catherine Simmons Avenue. Someone called 311 to complain about trash building up around it.

“The actions of my staff to clean the corridor was not intended to bring emotional harm to any of the residents or family members,” said Rodney Jamison, director of Solid Waste Services, in a statement following Channel 9′s report. “Rather, they acted in response to a service request for a clean-up.”

Jamison said in the future, workers will only throw away items not related to the memorial.

Family members on Wednesday didn’t know who was responsible but knew they had to do something about it.

“Don’t you think that’s disrespectful to the families?” said Charles Billings, a victim’s father. “Who took them up? That’s what we want to know. Who took them up?”

Jocelyn Hightower’s cousin, Daryion Stevenson, was one of the “Beatties Ford Four” killed that day.

“It’s not sitting very well with me,” she told Channel 9. “If you know there’s a memorial for someone who passed away, why bother it?”

Family members were not happy with what happened to the mementos that honored their loved ones.

“Those are significant to the family,” Hightower said. “Those are things brought from their home. That might have been in their room or households and set it there. That’s how they remember it.”

Family and friends replaced some of those items this week.

However, if the city gets more complaints about trash at the location, the memorial could be removed again.

“Myself and my daughter went out last Friday and picked up trash because there was so much, I couldn’t take it,” Hightower said.

Full statement from Jamison:

“I want to offer my heartfelt condolences to the family and community members impacted by the shootings on Beatties Ford Road over the 2020 Juneteenth holiday. The mission of Solid Waste Services is to provide the residents of the City of Charlotte with aesthetic cleanliness and a community everyone can be proud to display. The actions of my staff to clean the corridor was not intended to bring emotional harm to any of the residents or family members. Rather, they acted in response to a service request for a clean-up.

“Solid Waste Services’ staff received a complaint from an active resident along the Beatties Ford Road corridor regarding the memorial and litter in the surrounding area. The resident stated that ‘the memorial and litter had been out for a long time and looked really bad due to the weather elements.’ Solid Waste Services went to the area and cleaned the memorial and area surrounding it per the request. The items were disposed of through our regular disposal process.

“Going forward, if a request to clean the area is received, we will only dispose of the items that are not related to the memorial.

“Again, I want to express my sincere apology for any additional grief this action has caused and will work with my staff to ensure this does not happen in the future.”

(Watch the video below: CMPD releases footage from deadly Beatties Ford shooting)