Crime

National Missing Children’s Day Brings Awareness to Children’s Safety

MILWAUKEE COURIER — In Milwaukee, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office (MCOS) uses the day to remember Milwaukee’s missing children and teach children about safety. Throughout the month, MCOS attended events throughout the city such as the MLK Heritage Health Center Community Baby Shower and the Clarke Square Park’s Bloom & Groom.

Published

5 years ago

May 30, 2019

Oakland Post

By Ana Martinez-Ortiz

May 25 was National Missing Children’s Day. It is a day dedicated to the organizations and individuals that protect children and a day to show encouragement to parents, guardians and caregivers who are dedicated to children’s safety.

The day began in 1983 under President Ronald Regan according to the Office of Juvenile Justice and Delinquency Prevention, an office under the Department of Justice. Each year, the DOJ honors the children who have gone missing and recognizes the efforts of law enforcement.

In Milwaukee, the Milwaukee County Sheriff’s Office (MCOS) uses the day to remember Milwaukee’s missing children and teach children about safety.

Throughout the month, MCOS attended events throughout the city such as the MLK Heritage Health Center Community Baby Shower and the Clarke Square Park’s Bloom & Groom.

During the events, MCOS provided individuals with Child ID Kits on behalf of the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. The kits were free of charge and are to be used in case of a missing child.

In the kit, parents and guardians are asked to include photo identification of the child, which shows the child’s face in color. It should be in a digital format, readily accessible and updated every six months.

A description of the child including their name, nickname, date of birth, hair color/style, eye color, sex, weight, height, glasses and braces and identifying marks such as tattoos or piercings.

Also included in the kit should be dental x-rays, charting and biting impressions, fingerprints, a DNA sample and medical reports.

The kits are to be used if a child goes missing to help law enforcement and volunteers find the child.

This year’s events were held in memory of Alexis Patterson who disappeared in 2002. According to the Journal Sentinel, Alexis was last seen on Friday, May 3. She was walking to Hi-Mount Community School, less than a block from her home.

At 7-years-old, Alexis disappeared without a trace. At the time, the Journal Sentinel reported that Alexis’ stepfather dropped her off at the corner where she would cross the street for school. While students reported that they had seen Alexis that morning, she did not appear in class.

Upon the news that Alexis had gone missing, relatives, friends and individuals looked for her, however, the search for Alexis eventually became a cold case.

In 2016, the Journal Sentinel reported that the Police Department’s Cold Case Unit had compiled 5,000 interviews and that the case file was over 10,000 pages long.

If your child is missing, call 911 immediately. Individuals are encouraged to call the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children at 1-800-THE-LOST (1-800- 843-5678).

This article originally appeared in the Milwaukee Courier.

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Remembering Khadafy Washington: His Memory Has Inspired Hope and Healing in Oakland for 24 years

August marks the 24th anniversary of the shooting death of Khadafy Washington. Washington was only 18 years old when he was killed at McClymonds High School just months after his graduation in August 2000.

Published

6 days ago

October 1, 2024

Oakland Post

Marilyn Washington-Harris, posted 19 billboards around Oakland with the picture of her murdered son, Khadafy Washington, and the blaring question: Do You Know Who Killed Me?

By Brigitte Cook

August marks the 24th anniversary of the shooting death of Khadafy Washington.

Washington was only 18 years old when he was killed at McClymonds High School just months after his graduation in August 2000.

At McClymonds, Washington was the captain of the football team and a talented athlete who enjoyed working out. At 5’6,” he impressed his bigger and taller teammates with his ability to lift 350lbs and to toe-to-toe with them on the gridiron.

Preparing for the future, Washington enrolled in Laney College with dreams of continuing his football career and ultimately transferring to a college in Florida. However, those dreams were abruptly and violently ended.

The young athlete and rising star loved his family and friends, and they loved him, too — especially his sisters and his West Oakland community.

For 24 years now, Washington’s family has been searching for answers and struggling with deep sorrow and grief stemming from his tragic, senseless and untimely death. During the months following his murder, outraged and in pain, Washington’s mother, Marilyn Washington-Harris, posted 19 billboards around the city with his picture and the blaring question: Do You Know Who Killed Me?

Those signs were stark reminders to a city sometimes in denial that too many of its young men were dying violent deaths. Soon she was organizing marches to bring attention to Oakland’s problem with violence, and to the lasting pain families of victims endure. Privately, Washington-Harris would reach out to individual families in the immediate aftermath of a homicide, sending them mementos and reminders that they were not forgotten. In their weakest moments, she protected them from exploitation, scraped up funds for the mostly poor families so that they could bury their dead with dignity and grace, and continued to counsel and care for them as they tried to heal and recover.

As Washington-Harris’s mission grew and evolved, she founded the Khadafy Washington Foundation for Non-Violence to continue to support the thousands of family members of the well-over 2500 people that have been killed in Oakland since that fateful night in 2000.

Even though she has dedicated her life to helping and supporting those who have lost loved ones, Washington-Harris still struggles with the hurt and pain of losing her only son every day. She said, “It comes just like a storm – sometimes it comes quietly and sometimes it is raging. But it never goes away.”

Her plea is that those responsible for his murder be held accountable and her family, and all families like hers, receive the justice they deserve.

Washington-Harris is a founding member of the Family Support Advocates with the Violence Prevention Coalition, advocating for legislation and policies to support all crime victims and especially family members of homicide victims.

FAMILY SUPPORT ADVOCACY TASK FORCE

The mission of the Family Support Advocacy Task Force, a committee of the Violence Prevention Coalition, is to advocate for local, state and federal policies and legislation to enhance and expand support to families and friends of those who experienced violence; for more compassionate and transparent communication between law enforcement, the district attorney with the family of homicide victims and to push for the elimination of all violence, but particularly gun violence and homicides.