‘We’re never going to forget.’ Merced walk honors loved ones who lost lives to violence
It’s been almost three years since Victoria Hogue’s daughter Tatyanna Lopez was killed with her unborn daughter Ayanna in Merced.
Lopez was shot and killed while visiting friends in the Loughborough neighborhood.
“It’s been hard, going on three years. It doesn’t get easier,” Hogue said.
On Saturday, Hogue joined a crowd of about 50 people who participated in the 14th annual Riley Brothers Victims Remembrance Walk.
The group ended the walk by stopping by where Lopez was gunned down. There were still bullet holes visible in the fence.
“It’s hard for other people to relate to how I feel,” Hogue said. “Just knowing that there are other moms out there and that I’m not alone. It doesn’t make it any better but it does help ease the pain.
“My daughter was my everything and she’s always going to be my everything,” Hogue added. “We’re never going to forget her.”
The group started at noon at the FoodMaxx parking lot on West Olive and Meadows avenues with prayers and songs, before heading out on the walk through the city’s Loughborough area.
Merced County District Attorney Nicole Silveira attended the event and talked to the crowd about different forms of justice.
“This is another form of justice, remembering your loved ones, recognizing them,” Silveira said. “Making sure that they are not forgotten is a form of justice that you are doing for them.”
People held signs that read, “Walking in honor of murder victims,” “Be their voices” and “Stop the violence.”
The annual event was started by Marylene Riley, 67, who lost Michael and Marlis Riley to violent deaths less than a year apart.
“Today is keeping their legacy alive, having their names and faces out there,” Marylene Riley said. “It’s to bring the community together, not only the ones who lost loved ones, but for the community to come out and support us that have lost loved ones.”
Michael Riley was a Navy veteran and an honors student at Merced College with ambitions to someday give back to his community through pro bono legal work.
Marlis, too, was pursuing his educational aspirations, with dreams of eventually working with and mentoring youth when he was killed.
Michael died from a gunshot wound the night of Oct. 7, 2008, near the sidewalk outside the Village Meadows Apartments, in the 1100 block of Loughborough Drive.
Marlis Riley, 27, suffered fatal injuries during a fight in an alleyway near Denver Avenue on Sept. 12, 2009.
Along the walk around the Loughborough neighborhood, the group stopped at the sites where Michael and Marlis were killed. They stopped to hear music, pray, release balloons and drop rose petals.
Marylene Riley said she’s overwhelmed by the support that she’s received over the years from the community.
The remembrance walk is always an emotional event for her.
“It’s not sadness, it’s uplifting and it’s a missing because I’m missing loved ones,” she said. “I know where they are going and I know that I’m going to see them again. That’s part of my joy is believing and trusting that.”
This story was originally published October 14, 2023 at 4:14 PM.
