| Location | Newark, New Jersey |
| Age | 15 years |
| Cause of Death | Murder |
| Date of Birth | 26/05/1987 |
| Date of Death | 11/05/2003 |
| Visitors | 1,068 since 25/10/2009 |
| Creator |
Sakia Gunn (May 26, 1987-May 11, 2003) was a 15-year old African American lesbian who was murdered in a hate crime in Newark, New Jersey. On the night of May 11, Gunn was returning from a night out in Greenwich Village, Manhattan with her friends. While waiting for the #1 New Jersey Transit bus at the corner of Broad and Market Streets in downtown Newark, Gunn and her friends were propositioned by two men. When the girls rejected their advances, by declaring themselves to be lesbians, the men attacked them while shouting homophobic slurs. Gunn fought back, and one of the men, Richard McCullough, stabbed her in the chest. Both men immediately fled the scene in their vehicle. After one of Gunn's friends flagged down a passing driver, she was taken to nearby University Hospital, where she died.
McCullough pleaded guilty to aggravated manslaughter, aggravated assault, and bias intimidation, claiming, at one point, that Gunn died after she ran into his knifeOn April 21, 2005, he was sentenced to 20 years in prison.
If I should go tomorrow
It would never be goodbye,
For I have left my heart with you,
So don't you ever cry.
The love that's deep within me,
Shall reach you from the stars,
You'll feel it from the heavens,
And it will heal the scars.
~ Life Beyond ~
Let them go, but not completely.
Hold on to them, but not too tightly.
Love them as you know you will,
as you always have.
Rejoice that they are well, the only difference
now is that you cannot see them,
But you feel them still and they will always be with you.
The spirit does not die as the body dies
and Love is of the spirit.
Nothing you have experienced together can be taken from you.
And your loved one shall be eternally yours in that love.
Weep not too long, that they may also cry,
But rejoice in their life and in yours also.
Let yours continue to be a celebration of all life; of your shared love,
Knowing that God holds you both in the palm of his hand
And in loving you both shall reunite you.
Author Unknown
Memories in the Heart
Feel no guilt in laughter, she knows how much you care
Feel no sorrow in a smile that she’s not here to share
You cannot grieve forever, she would not want you to
She’d hope that you can carry on, the way you always do
So talk about the good times and the ways you showed you cared
The days you spent together, all the happiness you shared
Let memories surround you.
A word someone may say
Will suddenly recapture a time, an hour, a day
That brings her back as clearly as though she were still here
And fills you with the feelings that she is always near
For if you keep these moments, you will never be apart
And she will live forever locked safe within your heart
ANON
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