ROCKY RIVER — Friends, family members and strangers came together at Rocky River Reservation Tuesday evening to remember the two people found dead at the park one week earlier.
There are still no answers about who’s responsible for killing Carnell Sledge and Catherine Brown, but Sledge’s cousins said they are choosing to have faith in God and to trust the process.
Flowers and a cross were placed beside a bench next to the river as people gathered for Tuesday’s vigil. They held hands in prayer and then released balloons into the air.
“Through our tears, through our heart, through our pain, Lord, give us peace,” Taneka Glass, one of Sledge’s cousins, prayed aloud.
Some at the vigil came to remember Katherine Brown, known as Kate. Many others knew Sledge.
“He lit up the room, his beautiful smile,” Glass said. “He loved the Lord. He just was there for everybody.”
Sledge’s cousins remembered him as a kind, generous man, whose job involved helping children with special needs.
“That shows, you know, what type of personality he had and the love that he had for those children,” Latoya White, another cousin, said.
Karen Jones worked with Sledge at Westlake High School, where he assisted in special education classes. She and others wore Westlake shirts to the vigil.
“He helped kids that just needed a friend to talk to, lot of energy,” Jones said.
For the people at the vigil, the kindness and love Brown and Sledge shared with the world won’t be forgotten.
“He always gave, you know,” said Tangela Diming, another of Sledge’s cousins. “He had a good heart. And for this to happen, it was a tragedy. It’s senseless for two lives to be taken like this.”
