WDBJ7
July 23, 2015
Friends and family were hurting Saturday night at a candle light vigil as they remembered a toddler shot and killed in Roanoke earlier in the week.
Warner Hunter III is accused of shooting 2-year-old Aryah Lipford and her mother Rachael Quesenberry — Lipford died at the hospital and Quesenberry is still being treated but family members said doctors told them she is expected to survive.
Community members gathered at Staunton Park to remember the child and pray for her mother’s recovery. Close to 40 people were there, including members of the Roanoke Fire Department.
Organizers set up a red wagon with a teddy bear, and placed a poster in front of it with pictures of Aryah on it and memories written in permanent marker. Supporters lit candles, but for some the emotion was too much as they remembered a young life lost.
“She was loved by many, she loved her mom,” Rachael Qusenberry’s Sister and Aryah’s Aunt Melissa Ferguson said. “Her mom was her rock, you saw her mom, you saw her, her mom just tried to protect her.”