BUFFALO, NY (AP) — A mother and sister known for baking decadent pastries. A restaurateur buying his 3-year-old son’s birthday cake. A father of six who worked as a school bus helper.
These three victims of the racist attack on a Buffalo supermarket will be laid to rest on Friday, in a week filled with goodbyes for family and friends.
Funeral services are scheduled for Geraldine Talley, 62, of Buffalo, Andre Mackniel, 53, of Auburn and Margus Morrison, 52, of Buffalo.
They are among 10 people killed and three injured when a white gunman opened fire on afternoon shoppers and workers at a Tops Friendly Market on May 14. Authorities said he chose the grocery store because it is in a predominantly black neighborhood.
For many black Americans, this latest example of targeted racial violence has sparked the same feelings they have faced after previous attacks.
“It’s like Groundhog Day. We have seen this time and time again,” Mark Talley, son of Geraldine Talley, said at a press conference after the shooting. “I constantly think about what could have been done.”
Talley’s friends and family say she was an expert baker who treated them to apple chips, cakes and pastries. She was with her fiancé in Tops when filming began. Her fiancé was in another driveway and got to safety.
“Gerri will be remembered for her beautiful wit, dimpled smile and immense love for her family,” her online obituary read. Veteran civil rights activist Reverend Al Sharpton is expected to commemorate Talley on Friday.
Mackniel was collecting a birthday cake for his young son when he was killed. He was a cook and stay-at-home dad to his son, according to his obituary.
“He loved basketball, playing guitar, writing poems, listening to music, but most of all Andre was a very family-oriented man,” he said.
Morrison, a father of six, had worked as a security guard and bus attendant at Buffalo Public Schools since 2019. He was buying snacks for family movie night, his stepdaughter Cassandra Demps told WIVB.
Frederick Morrison said he would remember his brother, who he often played basketball with, as comical and full of energy.
“Not all of his jokes were good,” Frederick told The Buffalo News with a laugh, “but he was funny.”
The funerals of store security guard Aaron Salter, 55, of Lockport and Pearl Young, 77, of Buffalo were held on Wednesday. In previous days, Roberta Drury, 32, Katherine Massey, 72, Heyward Patterson, 67, and Celestine Chaney, 65, were also buried.
The funeral of the oldest victim, Ruth Whitfield, 86, will take place on Saturday.
The country was still mourning the violence in Buffalo when another mass shooting left 19 students and two teachers dead at an elementary school in Uvalde, Texas on May 24. Authorities say the shooters in both attacks were 18-year-old men with semi-automatic rifles.
The Buffalo shooting suspect has been charged with first degree murder and is being held without bond. His attorney, in his first court appearance, pleaded not guilty. In Texas, the suspected shooter was killed by law enforcement.
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This story has been corrected to show that Ruth Whitfield’s funeral will take place on Saturday, not Sunday.
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