The Virginian-Pilot
©
NORFOLK
Family and friends gathered in Katrina Wilson's driveway, on the spot where she was killed, and raised candles to salute what would have been her 43rd birthday.
The crowd sang and shouted a chorus of hallelujahs in her memory.
Wilson was stabbed to death April 26 as she tried to go to church. James A. Moore, a man Wilson had befriended and encouraged to go to church, has been charged with murder. In January, Moore had been charged with kicking in Wilson's door and threatening to kill her. A clerical error in court paperwork led to his mistaken release on bond.
Wilson's mother and daughters said they could not let Wilson's birthday pass unmarked.
"My daughter shouldn't be dead," said her mother, Antionette Logan. "She should be here with us celebrating her birthday."
Logan worried that layoffs at court clerk's offices in Norfolk and Virginia Beach would contribute to additional errors.
"Maybe more jobs should be open," she said, so that mistakes wouldn't happen.
Purple balloons bobbed in the breeze in front of the house Wilson had built eight years ago on Evelyn T. Butts Avenue. Dozens of people wore white shirts with Wilson's picture printed in purple. It was her favorite color.
"It's the color of royalty," said her daughter, Tiara Wilson-Mills.
Wilson-Mills said the months since her mother's passing have brought new purpose to her life. The day before Wilson died, she registered her daughter for classes through an online college.
"The last thing she told me is that you can obtain so much - but one thing they can't take from you is knowledge," Wilson-Mills said.
Outside, as storm clouds gathered, Logan wiped away tears as friends and family took turns at the microphone to recall Wilson's life. Candles flickered as the flame passed from person to person.
"We come today with mixed emotions," the Rev. Clinton Brown said. "We come to honor her legacy, yet we stand in sorrow."
He and others spoke of Wilson's faith, how she reached out even to those considered "castaways." They joked about her love of a clean house, chiding those gathered in the yard to pick up any scrap of paper lest Wilson see it.
They spoke about how special Wilson had been and vowed to keep her memory alive.
"We will not allow her work or her name to be forgotten," Brown said.
Michelle Washington, (757) 446-2287, michelle.washington@pilotonline.com
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so sad
such a shame, feel so bad for the family
Ms. Wilson
I am truly sorry for the families loss and will pray for their comfort and strength through the Lord Jesus Christ. At the same time, I feel really bad for the clerk who, apparently, made an error that allowed this murderer to become free. Now there are two families suffering at the same time. I can't even begin to immagine what they must be going through after an event such as this. Somehow I feel that this wonderful lady, Ms. Wilson, would encourage all of her family and friends to forgive this person and encourage them to not carry this with them throughout their lifetime. I am sure this will haunt them for life and the only thing that will release them from self loathing will be the families forgiveness.
May God bless the clerk and the family of this celebrated lady. She is, obviously, at this time, in a happy and awesome place with the God of her salavation.
pw in NC