Tuesday, May 30th 2023, 6:15 pm
The friends and family of the five kids killed in a murder-suicide in Henryetta are building a memorial for them outside the school.
They are honoring the victims by planting trees.
The families of Ivy Webster and Brittany Brewer said they wanted to make sure the generations of people who will live here and go to school here will remember their story, and how many lives they touched.
Each one of the five trees outside Henryetta High School represents one child killed in the murder-suicide.
Investigators believe Ivy Webster, Brittany Brewer, and siblings Tiffany Guess, Rylee Allen, and Michael Mayo, were all killed by Jesse McFadden before he turned the gun on himself.
The families want it to be a place where students can come to reflect.
"These girls touched a lot of people in this community, and outside of this community,” said Justin Webster, the father of Ivy Webster. “For these kids that were all friends with them here at the high school and the middle school, we want to make sure they have a little piece they can come and connect with the victims and be here with them."
Webster hopes this memorial will help make sure no one in this community ever forgets what happened to these innocent teens.
"There's going to be a lot of people that move here that don't really know the story that drive by and see these, and that's that refresher and say, ‘hey, you know what, this is a tragic situation that happened that should have never have happened,'”’ said Webster.
Nathan Brewer, the father of Brittany Brewer, said it was important to him to make sure all of the kids are honored for the lives they led, not just the way they died.
"She'll live on,” said Brewer. “All the kids will live on, not just my daughter Brittany, but all the kids, will live on through this. I just felt like I needed to do something for all of them. Not just my daughter, or Ivy, but all the kids."
The parents hope this tragedy will lead to something positive.
They are hoping for changes in the system that will prevent something like this from ever happening again.
"They're all going to change the world,” said Webster. “And it sucks that they aren't a part of it, physically."
May 30th, 2023
November 14th, 2024
November 14th, 2024
November 14th, 2024
November 14th, 2024
November 14th, 2024
November 14th, 2024
November 14th, 2024