To the editor:

On Oct. 1, someone added a dozen red roses to the impromptu memorial on the concrete block on the northeast corner of 11th and Massachusetts streets. That memorial recalls the triple murder and mayhem that occurred in the early morning of Oct. 1, 2017. The roses are in a plastic container with water and have now faded with the passing days. That day affected many people, and someone who was touched by those events left the roses there on this, the second anniversary of that terrible night.

This memorial includes a plastic laminated summary from the Lawrence Journal-World noting the deaths of 22-year-old Leah Brown, of Shawnee, 20-year-old Colwin Lynn Henderson, of Topeka, and 24-year-old Tre’mel Dean-Rayton, of Topeka. There is also another laminated photo of a previous memorial that adorned the ledge across the street in front of the Watkins Museum, where the gunfire began.

There are also beautiful artificial flowers and, often at night, many lighted candles to illuminate the scene and memorialize those who died. People who stop by at this site sometimes don’t know what it is about, but others know exactly what happened. One young woman stated that through her mother she is related to one of the men who died. Others who stop by were there that night, know someone who was involved or have some connection to those events.

All in all, this memorial is an abiding tribute to an incident in Lawrence’s history that should never be forgotten.

Frank Janzen,

Lawrence