| Five Hundred ThirtySeventh in the Famous People (FP)
Series - Angela Dawson |
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The Dawson family, a family of seven (parents Carnell,
Angela, and five children), were all murdered in
Baltimore, Maryland, on October 16, 2002. After Angela had
repeatedly alerted police to drug dealing, assault, and other crime
in her East Baltimore neighborhood of Oliver, the entire family
died after their home was firebombed. A neighbor, Darrell L. Brooks
— once a page in the Baltimore City Council chamber —
pled guilty to the crimes and was given a life sentence without the
possibility of parole. At the time of the attack, Brooks was on
probation but had been left unsupervised.
After repeated vandalism of their
home, the Dawsons survived a first arson attempt on October 3,
2002, only to succumb to the second. The outcry over the magnitude
of the crime was only matched by the frustration expressed by many
residents who simply could not believe that city officials, who
were aware of the escalating violence, had been unable to protect
the family. City officials defended their inaction, saying an offer
to relocate the family was refused.
The tragedy underscored the failure in attempts to encourage
residents of Baltimore to stand up to drug dealing and of the city
to provide protection to those who did. In 2005, relatives of the
Dawson family filed suit against the city, state and various
agencies. They alleged that despite the launch of the Believe
campaign in 2002 (which encouraged residents to supply information
about drug dealers) there were insufficient resources to protect
witnesses who did come forward. The lawsuit was later
dismissed.
Numerous efforts to reclaim and rebuild Oliver in the name of the
Dawson family have been undertaken by politicians, activists, and
ordinary citizens. Mayor (and later Governor of Maryland) Martin
O'Malley, U.S. Rep. Elijah Cummings, State Senator Nathaniel
McFadden, and the action group known as Baltimoreans United in
Leadership Development (BUILD) have worked in individual and
collective ways to ensure the Dawson family a lasting public
memory. The house where the Dawsons died reopened in April 2007 as
the Dawson Safe Haven Community Center.
The Haywood Cemetery is certainly a safe haven. Enjoy your time in
this large, well kept cemetery. The cache is a small, 2oz plastic
spice bottle, tethered in place.
FP
cemetery caches are always placed with regards to the location, so
please be mindful of your presence here, watch where you step and
be respectful of the residents interred here. Please carefully
re-hide the container better to maintain the integrity of the
cache.