SACRAMENTO, Calif. — A group of Sacramento-area families are bonded by tragedy. Their loved ones were all murdered and ripped from their lives too soon, and now, they are working to turn their heartbreak into art to keep their memory alive.
At 19 years old, Saraya Jade Redmond had her whole life ahead of her. She dreamt of becoming a cosmetologist, but that promise was taken away on Sept. 25, 2020.
That's when shots were fired into her friend's apartment on the 2600 block of Stonecreek Drive in South Natomas. She didn't survive, and to this day, no arrest has been made.
"It's horrific. Every day I wake up and relive that moment when I learned she was gone," said Jeny Guerrero, her mother. "It's like opening up a wound everyday and nudging at it."
Without justice, Guerrero has found support from other families who lost a loved one to homicide.
"It's a club that we were forced into," Guerrero said.
Among them are the family of Leilani Beauchamp, 19. She was killed after leaving a Sacramento Halloween party last year with U.S. Air Force airmen. Prosecutors say the suspects dumped her body in Monterey County.
There's also the family of Rodney "Boy" Hu. The Stockton man owned a karate studio. He was run over a killed after an argument at a grocery store in 2020.
Together, the families are raising funds to create a mural of their loved ones faces at the Florin Light Rail Station.
It's where the body of 30-year-old Michelle Benavidez was found. She was sexually assaulted and brutally killed last spring by a stranger who was arrested 8 months later.
"Guess what? Like something tragic happened, but now we are going to brighten it up for all of our families," said Paula Gardner, Benavidez's aunt who is spearheading the mural campaign.
She said it's important for the victim's family to battle their victimhood.
Benavidez's family says far too many families have been left broken by senseless violence and that this mural is meant to give them a space to be seen.
Homicide rates in Sacramento skyrocketed over the past few years. In 2020, the homicides in the county reached triple-digit numbers for the first time in 10 years. From 2020 to 2021, the murder rate climbed more than 37% in the city of Sacramento.
"Now, it's time to speak as a community that this type of violence will not be taken lightly. We need to stand together and begin to put a stop to this. This mural will be a reminder that we must stand together, support one another in our fight against senseless crimes and take back our neighborhoods," said Benavidez's mother, Rachel Benavidez.
"Michelle always liked making people laugh and brighten everyone's day," said her uncle, Diego Salazar. "I think that, more than anything else, she would love the idea of bringing people together for a good cause."
While the mural won't bring their loved ones back, Violet Giovanni, the mother of Leilani Beauchamp, says it'll shine a light on the violence plaguing so many communities.
"Having this mural done is not only going to help us have place to memorialize Leilani but also help the public recognize that this is a real problem, and if we don’t act on it, they too could be a victim as well," Giovanni said.
The family's hope, pain and love will remind the public and elected leaders that the power to prevent violence and to obtain justice is within the community's power.
"It's to make sure our loved ones are not lost, that they're not forgotten, that their names and their faces stay out there," Guerrero said. "And (to) haunt everybody that knows something until someone says something, and someone is held accountable. Because until someone is held accountable for each one, then there is no justice. Our system is failing everybody."
Artist Shane Grammer will be commissioned to paint the mural. He is known for his work memorializing victims of the Camp Fire in Paradise, Calif. and had painted a solo mural of Benevidez on Arden Way and Del Paso Heights Boulevard.
To learn more how you can donate to this project, click HERE.
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