IN LOVING MEMORY OF

Precious

Precious Anderson Profile Photo

Anderson

July 11, 2007 – July 11, 2007

Obituary

Precious was the unborn baby of Kerria Anderson. Kerria was kicked in the stomach while pregnant killing tiny precious. Her ex boyfriend Alfonso Price wanted Kerria to abort Precious once she learned she was pregnant. When she refused, he kicked her repeatedly. The body of Precious was taken from the hospital and dropped off at the morgue. And for nearly a month, that's where it remained after Anderson told Hamilton County Coroner O'dell Owens that she didn't have the money for a funeral.Owens went on TV last week and asked the public for help. Word of his plea made its way to Ralya in Indiana. She called her father, a business owner in Hebron, and asked what he could do. At first, her father, Joseph Von Rissen, and her uncle, Fred Von Rissen, offered $500. Then they decided on $1,000. 'It was without hesitation,' Ralya said of the donation from VR Transportation Co. that the Von Rissens own. Then Owens and Rev. Joseph Garr went into action and secured a casket, flowers, a gravesite and a marker for Precious. Another $50 was donated for the cause. 'It was sad,' said Owens of the prospect of not having a burial for Precious. 'Everybody needs closure. This young mother went through a real tragedy and it was real traumatic and she is still living it because of the pain and the footprints on her body.' Because of the other donations of services, the bulk of the money donated by the West Harrison family will now be used for a fund in Precious' name. The Precious Fund will, at least for now, be administered through Owens and Garr as a way to offer slain children from poor families a proper burial. Had the community not stepped forward, it is likely that the city would have cremated Precious and laid her ashes in Baltimore Pike Cemetery. There would not have been a service, nor a headstone. 'With all she had been through, and knowing that she didn't have the money, I couldn't fathom the thought of doing nothing about this,' said Ralya. 'At least something good came out of this.' Following the 30-minute service at the Joseph Garr Funeral Home that focused largely on gratitude to the community that made the burial and funeral possible, a crowd of close to 40 people walked down a path to one of the children's sections at the Baltimore Pike Cemetery in North Fairmount. There they gathered again to say goodbye to Precious. She was laid to rest next to Parisha Payne, who died after living for only two days in January 2003. Had both girls lived, they would have been cousins. 'Now (Parisha) is going to have someone to talk to,' said 11-year-old Shawnqwashia Payne, Anderson's cousin. Before walking away with a handful of flowers that had covered her unborn baby's snow-white casket, Anderson glanced down at the casket and said: 'I feel better now knowing that she can rest in peace.'

Cemetery Details

Location
Baltimore Pike Cemetery

3200 Costello Avenue Cincinnati, OH 45211

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