Mattie Rhodes Center sponsored Indian Mound crosses | Photo Courtesy of Molly Manske

Daisy Garcia Montoya

Education Reporter

As you drive past Indian Mound Park (Gladstone & Belmont Blvds), you may have noticed a display of white crosses with names on them as part of an initiative by Mattie Rhodes Center (MRC), to honor lives lost to gun violence.

This temporary cemetery displays 23 white crosses to recognize victims of gun violence. In addition to the display at Indian Mound, another cemetery with 55 temporary crosses is present in the Westside, next to the Mattie Rhodes Cultural Center (1701 Jarboe), bringing the total to over 70 crosses. 

Volunteers and family members decorated these crosses in celebration of Dia de los Muertos or Day of the Dead — a holiday primarily observed among Hispanic cultures where friends and family gather to celebrate and honor loved ones who have died.  

This initiative is led by MRC’s Community Outreach Team (also referred to as the Street Team), whose primary goal is to help reduce violence in the community by staying present in the neighborhoods of Indian Mound, Sheffield and Lykins, areas, which have seen high levels of violence. 

MRC Community Outreach Officer Sofia Esquivel Macias said the Street Team works by connecting with families and affected ones by providing resources and support within 24 to 48 hours of a homicide within the area. 

Many of the victims honored in the Indian Mound display lost their lives within two miles of this location. All of the victims were killed by gun violence with the exception of two, which are families which have worked with MRC’s support services. Many of the individuals  honored are loved ones of current MRC families who have received support and resources from the organization, while others were submitted by families after it was announced on social media that they could register for a spot in this display.

Molly Manske, MRC Community Outreach Coordinator, said that this isn’t an ordinary Dia de Muertos celebration, but rather, an opportunity to bring awareness to gun violence in the backyard of this community. 

“People have to look and see what it is. They have to read these names and see it in their backyard because if you don’t have anything directly impacting you by gun violence, you don’t really understand what it is. These are people, they’re their kids, their legacies, and what they leave behind,” Manske said. “We work with a homicide victim’s family and one thing we promise them is that we will speak their loved one’s name through the work we do because their legacy is still here and we have to remember them.”

The outreach team said through this initiative, they hope to continue to help honor the lives that have been lost and help the community take notice of the levels of crime that have impacted families within the area.

“It’s very emotional but it’s our job to continue as a community organization, as the community that we live in, it’s our responsibility to take accountability for that life loss,”  Manske said. “That’s a loss to our community, to their family, to all of us.”

Jazmin Marmolejo, mother of Victor Marmolejo, whose life was lost due to a fentanyl overdose, said that she sees this initiative as a way to make youth more aware of their actions and impact them to make positive changes. 

“It’s a way to make the youth more conscious and aware. I imagine that as they drive by and see the crosses, they may think to themselves, ‘That could have been me if I drove recklessly or drove under the influence.’ I think it would impact them in the way that it would get them thinking of what actions they must take to avoid being there. I think this could work as a prevention tool,” Marmolejo said.

This mother said that she decorates her child’s cross with lots of love and care every year to honor him and with the hope that her son Victor will visit during Dia de Muertos. 

These crosses will be up until Nov. 13, with a closing ceremony for families on Nov. 15. 

For more information or additional support regarding gun violence and family support, please visit: https://www.mattierhodes.org/.