Centennial
Citizen
Arapahoe County, Colorado • Volume 12, Issue 3
December 7, 2012
A Colorado Community Media Publication
ourcentennialnews.com
Centennial resident remembers Pearl Harbor Girl witnessed attack that made history By Deborah Grigsby
dgrigsby@ourcoloradonews.com
Friends and neighbors gathered for a candlelight vigil Dec. 1 to honor the memory of Andrew Gelston Graham, a 23-year-old graduate student who was found murdered less than a mile from his parents’ Centennial home. This year marks the three-year anniversary of his death. No arrests have been made in the case. Photos by Deborah Grigsby
Candlelight walk held for slain student Unsolved murder still ‘very active’ case, says sheriff By Deborah Grigsby
dgrigsby@ourcoloradonews. com Friends and family of Andrew Gelston Graham gathered in a quiet Centennial subdivision to remember the 23-yearold graduate student who was shot to death three years ago as he walked home from a nearby light rail station. The Dec. 1 candlelight vigil, led by Graham’s mother, Cynthia, recalled the brief life of a young man who would chat with the homeless, play music too loud and went by the nickname “Stitches,” a moniker he got after a head-on collision with a Frisbee teammate sent him to the emergency room to mend a gaping cut over his left eye. Arapahoe County Sheriff Grayson Robinson, whose department has been investigating the case, offered personal
A small votive candle illuminates Andrew’s Tree, planted in memory of Andrew Gelston Graham, who was shot to death three years ago. Graham was walking home from a light-rail station when he was killed. A grand jury did not indict anyone in the death, but Sheriff Grayson Robinson says his office will present a case after newly elected George Brauchler takes office as district attorney. remarks at the vigil, calling Andrew a “man of purpose, principle and promise.” “The purpose of us coming
Cynthia Gelston Graham leads a small candlelight vigil in memory of her son Andrew, who was murdered in 2009. No arrests have been made in the case, but with a new district attorney about to take office, Sheriff Grayson Robinson hopes for progress.
together this evening is to recognize his memory and not lose track of the man he was,” said Robinson. Reading aloud from several personal letters, Cynthia confessed she knew little of Andrew’s random acts of kindness, but was not surprised. She also expressed gratitude for the friendship and support of her son’s teammates, with whom she’s organized several Frisbee tournaments in his honor. “They stay in touch, and that keeps bringing Andrew back to me,” she said. Although the case remains unsolved, Robinson said it’s far from closed. “This is still a very active case,” he said. Andrew’s body was discovered Nov 6, 2010, at 5:30 a.m.
on a lawn in the 8700 block of East Phillips Place, a subdivision near County Line Road and Yosemite Street, less than a mile from his parents’ home. A coroner’s report identified the cause of death was a single gunshot wound to the torso. There is speculation the crime may have been racially motivated and gang-related. After 18 months, testimony from 63 witnesses and more than 100 exhibits, an 18th Judicial District grand jury gave up on the case this summer, saying there was simply not enough evidence to move the case to trial. However, that might change, according to Robinson. “When the time is right, we will present this case again for prosecution after the new district attorney is seated,” he said, “Justice will be served.”
Daphne Dunn-Lovelace was worried she’d be late for Sunday school as she and a group of neighborhood kids made their way up Hawaii’s Punch Bowl Hill, a shortcut she used to reach the church some two miles away. However, the 15-year old island girl would never make it to church at all that Sunday, because that Sunday was Dec. 7, 1941. “As we climbed the hill, we heard the boom, boom, boom and saw all the black smoke,” Lovelace recalled. “We watched as one of the planes flew right over us; we could see the Japanese flying in the sunrise.” A cousin would soon arrive by car to take the kids home. “The radio kept saying the war had come and Pearl Harbor had been bombed, `This is the real McCoy!’” Not realizing the island had been bombed and would soon be the center for most of the U.S. Pacific operations, Lovelace said she does remember family members acting differently, and with an unusual sense of urgency. “My cousin was burying all her jewelry in the back yard between the violets,” she said. “I can still remember her doing that — it wasn’t real jewelry, just five-and-ten cent jewelry.” Soldiers told civilians to stay off the streets and local men who owned trucks were asked to come to Hickam Air Field to help pick up body parts. “The men were asked to shovel the heads, and arms and everything, then take them to the Nuauno Cemetery where they were buried in a trench.” Lovelace said it wouldn’t be until years later that she would fully understand the gravity of what she survived. “At night was the only time I felt scared,” Lovelace admitted. “We had to cover all the windows in the house and turn out the lights so the Japanese wouldn’t see us — blackout conditions — and I remember it Harbor continues on Page 4
Centennial resident Daphne Dunn-Lovelace never made it to church on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941, but she did get a glimpse of the first aerial attacks on Pearl Harbor from atop a hill near her childhood home in Honolulu. Photo by Deborah Grigsby
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