http://www.torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2007/10/22/4595396-sun.htmlMon, October 22, 2007
Victims' moms rallyAt least a dozen mothers make noise at Mel Lastman Square
By BRETT CLARKSON, SUN MEDIA
PICTURE:
http://www.torontosun.com/News/TorontoAndGTA/2007/10/22/torsunmain2.jpg Joan Howard, centre, and other mothers who have lost children to violence, take part in a demonstration at Mel Lastman Square yesterday. The women were joined by several hundred friends and family members as they held a symbolic “minute of noise” to break the silence around unsolved homicides. (Stan Behal, Sun Media)
Ten years after her son's murder, Marilyn Ortega still wonders if she's ever brushed by his killer on the street.
Her son, Ruddin Dexter Greaves, was just 22 when he was shot dead on July 27, 1997, at the Calypso Hut 3 on Sheppard Ave. in North York.
Michele Gonsalves, 22, was also gunned down.
The killer has never been caught.
"I've been walking around for 10 years with my son's murderer at large," Ortega said yesterday. "It scares me because I take the public subway every day to go to work and school, and I don't know if I'm ever sitting next to my son's murderer."
'MINUTE OF NOISE'
Yesterday Ortega was with at least a dozen other mothers who have lost sons and daughters to violence at a UMOVE (United Mothers Opposing Violence Everywhere) rally at Mel Lastman Square.
Several hundred people, including friends and relatives, joined the mothers in a 3 p.m. "minute of noise" to symbolize the community breaking the wall of silence that prevents many homicides from being solved.
UMOVE was founded by Audette Sheppard after her son Justin, 19, was shot dead in June 2001. His killer has also never been caught.
Nancy Logan, whose son Jonathan Chambers, 21, was found shot to death in March near Barrie, said UMOVE has helped her cope.
"It's very emotional, but it's also very supportive because I'm gaining strength from them, because there's days where I feel I can't make it," Logan said.
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