The families of the two people killed in the Northwest Baltimore gas explosion Aug. 10 honored their loved ones at a vigil Monday night and asked for the continued support of the community.
Inside Baltimore’s Empowerment Temple AME Church, the families of 20-year-old Morgan State University sophomore Joseph Graham and 61-year-old Lonnie Herriott were joined by church members in asking for financial aid to help cover the unexpected funeral costs.
The Rev. George J. Barnes III said that while the church is donating an undisclosed amount of money to help with the funeral costs, the church wants “to ensure that the family has the ability to mourn the loss of their loved ones to their choosing.
“Today, we wanted to focus on [how the explosion] isn’t a loss a property, but a loss of life,” the pastor said.
The Aug. 10 blast claimed the lives of Herriott and Graham while injuring several others and displacing dozens more. Officials are still investigating the scene to determine a cause, though Baltimore Gas & Electric Co. says its equipment is not to blame.
Chala Graham, Joseph Graham’s mother, choked through tears while asking for help from the community. Still struck by the sudden nature of his death, Graham said her son was “becoming his own man” before his passing.
“You just hear so many great things about him,” she said. “It’s just so amazing how he touched so many people.”
After she spoke, members of the Graham family huddled and audibly cried, their grief only amplified against the hundreds of empty seats inside the massive church as members of the news media filled only a handful.
Junetta Barnes, the church’s first lady, who spoke on behalf of Herriott’s family, said she was always generous.
Junetta Barnes said Herriott “was a wonderful person that would give anything to anybody.”
“She would give the clothes off her back. Even though she had [a] disability, she was always doing for others,” Barnes said.
Several family members hunched over as they appeared to be holding one another up, perhaps more than physically. At one point, Joseph Graham Sr., the college sophomore’s father, displayed the accumulated exhaustion of the past week, sitting by himself away from the family, his arms on his knees and taking deep breaths before walking outside.
Tia Levy, Joseph Graham’s aunt, wore a face mask that read “R.I.P Joseph.”
Levy said her sister Chala decided to speak at Monday’s news conference “because she wanted to show you family support.”
“And we understand that this is not just the loss that our family took but the loss that another has taken,” she said through tears. “And that there are other families in need as well.”
On a different day perhaps six months ago, the chairs inside the church would have been full of parishioners and well-wishers to help the families with their grief, offering hugs and shoulders to cry on.
Instead, due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the family had a drive-thru vigil Monday night.
About 20 cars and a handful of onlookers and community leaders rolled through the church’s parking lot showing support for the families by honking car horns and dropping donations into a bin as peaceful, serene music played in the background.