Mother’s March For Justice 25 Years After Daughter’s Murder
Dees: I am not only marching for my child, I am marching for all the other murdered children
City resident Penny Dees has spent the past 25 years commemorating her child’s life by walking the likely route the 12-year-old took before she was found bleeding from a gunshot to the head at 2:44 a.m. May 2, 1992.
She never walks alone.
The annual Justice For Quiana march is held on the first Saturday in May, not only to mark the tragic anniversary and unsolved murder but as a call to stop the violence that plagues parts of the small close-knit community.
“I am not only marching for my child, I am marching for all the other murdered children, wherever they are,” Dees said. “It’s hard because I don’t get to see her grow up and get married but I thank God that he has kept me thus far and is still keeping me.”
Quina was the mother of five’s only daughter.
On Saturday, Dees and her family were joined by the community’s religious leaders and neighbors from across the city.
“We are also calling this a victory march because we are getting closer to getting results,” Dees said of the cold case. “I’m feeling great because even though I may not get my answer today, I know that it is in the making.”
Women’s March Asbury Park organizer Dallas Hlatky and her family were among the supporters. She also said she was not only walking in support of Dees but “all the unsolved murders that have taken our youth too soon.”
Earlier in the day, Hlatky participated in the New Jersey Coalition Against Sexual Assault 5k held along the Asbury Park boardwalk.
“A lot of the reasons why I’m running to support NJCASA are the reasons why I marched on January 21st,” she wrote in a social media post. “It’s up to us to stand up against the inequality that pervades our culture and put us at risk of so many things, including sexual violence.
Close to 50 people gathered at 1 p.m. Saturday at the Martin Luther King Jr Middle School on Bangs Avenue where Quina attended school and her mother continues to work. From Bangs to Prospect and onto Washington Avenue, they walked past the family’s former home where the seventh grader snuck out to attend a party blocks away from where her body was found in a patch of woods adjacent to the church.
From Bangs to Prospect and onto Washington Avenue, they walked past the family’s former home where the seventh grader snuck out to attend a party. That party was blocks away from where her body was found in a patch of woods adjacent to Mt. Olivet church just across the Neptune border.
From a bullhorn, with police sirens ringing periodically, Dees led the group in question and answer chants that included:
What do we want – Justice
When do we want it – Now
For whom – Quiana Dees
Wake Up
Speak Up
Just Go Ahead Do It
Asbury Park
Stop The Violence
No Justice
No Peace
We can’t stop
We Won’t stop
By this time, residents along the route joined the walk and there was a caravan of vehicles following behind.
Retired Lt. George Corbin, who helped Dees organize the inaugural march over 25 years ago, Rev Kevin Nunn of Spirit of Truth World Vision Outreach Center, Tyrone Laws of Martin Luther King Jr Church, Pastor Warren Hall of Deliverance Temple, four members of the Asbury Park City Council and the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office, and of the local police department were all in attendance.
“This is an ongoing investigation and we wanted to have a presence here to show that we are involved and to show support,” Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office spokeswoman Donna Weaver said. “We are actively pursuing this investigation. It’s not over.”
Moments of prayer were held at the start of the walk, at the site where Quina’s body was found, and at the end of the walk, held in Springwood Avenue Park.
“We need people in the community to come forward,” Detective John Leibfried of the Monmouth County Prosecutor’s Office Major Crimes Unit said. “This has been going on for far too long. Based on my conversations with Prosecutor [Christopher] Gramiccioni, every available resource we have is strictly dedicated to solving this case. This is our primary goal, to solve this case.”
A luncheon, courtesy of Corbin and Leibfried was held following the walk at Kula Cafe on Springwood Avenue.
Deputy Chief David Kelso said the Prosecutor’s Office still works with Asbury Park on the case but this is actually not an Asbury Park case since the incident occurred just over the border in Neptune. Dees said when her daughter’s killer is found, she will continue to march for other murdered children.
Dees said when her daughter’s killer is found, she will continue to march for other murdered children.
“I’m praying that this is my last march for justice,” Dees said. “I know I say it every year but praise be to God this is my last one.”
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