On Sunday afternoon, family and friends gathered at High Point Commons Park in West Seattle for a vigil to honor the memory of a woman and an 11-year-old girl who were tragically killed in St. Louis County, Missouri two weeks ago. The families of Mioshi McCloud, 53, and My’Elle Harris, 11, shared their heartache and struggles with the community during the event.
Schwanda Taylor Crow, McCloud’s sister, described the shock and pain of losing her loved one. She expressed that McCloud had moved to the St. Louis area a year ago to start fresh and be closer to family. McCloud was a talented singer who had been involved in numerous musical projects and performances in Seattle over the years. My’Elle was remembered as a younger version of McCloud who had a love for reading and was sweet-natured girl.
The tragic event occurred when McCloud and Harris were found stabbed to death inside a home in Berkeley. Lawrente’ O’Cain, McCloud’s son, has been arrested in connection with their deaths on charges of two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action. It was shared by Florida Steele Taylor that her sister-in-law had been trying to get help for O’Cain’s mental health issues for some time now, highlighting the lack of understanding about mental health within the community.
Many participants at the vigil shared their memories of the victims while also bringing attention to the broken mental health system that needs change. They emphasized on addressing mental health issues within communities to prevent such tragedies from occurring again in the future. Crow and Taylor both called for a reevaluation of current mental health systems in place and hoped something positive could come out of this tragedy. A GoFundMe page has been set up to support the family with funeral expenses as well as other costs they may have incurred due to this incident.
