“An opportunity for memories”: Candlelight Vigil Held for Morgan Family

On the night of Wednesday, January 3, a shocked and saddened Clarkstown community gathered at Germonds Park to honor the memory of Ornella, Gabriel and Liam Morgan with a candlelight vigil and memorial wall. Arranged by friends of the family, approximately 1,000 community members, elected officials and community leaders attended to show their respect for the Morgans.

 The mother and two boys (ages 12 and 10) were found dead in their New City home in the early hours of December 30 of an apparent murder-suicide at the hand of father Watson Morgan, a Sergeant with the Bronxville Police Department.

 “Being here tonight is about honoring the Morgan family,” said Lloyd Poholski, Gabriel’s former Scoutmaster of Troop 97. “We’re healing, grieving, supporting each other. This is about a community coming together, wanting to help and not being sure how… So people grabbed onto bits and pieces (of the vigil) just to be part of it.”

 At approximately 6:15 p.m., Clarkstown Supervisor George Hoehmann began by thanking Jacqueline Camilo and further friends of the Morgan family for planning the vigil, as well as Clarkstown Central School District, St. Francis of Assisi Parish, the Clarkstown Police Department and Clarkstown staff for their support.

 “Let tonight be an opportunity for us to have memories, to be able to offer remembrances, to share our feelings and know this is a safe place for us to do that,” Hoehmann said. “Let us begin the process of remembering these lives that were well-lived.”

 Members of Boy Scout Troops 97, 79, and Pack 46—the Scout groups of Gabriel and Liam—then came onstage to start the ceremony. A tribute performance of “A Million Dreams” from Disney film The Greatest Showman was also sung by students from Laurel Plains Elementary School, where the boys both once attended.

 An array of speakers—Ornella’s colleagues from her job as a tech teacher at One World Middle School in the Bronx, the boys’ teachers, community members and family members—expressed their thoughts throughout the evening, never failing to mention the Morgans’ giving, compassionate nature. The vigil was then concluded by the lighting of the candles and a slideshow of photos featuring the Morgan family, set to Sarah McLachlan’s “Angel.”

 “I have lost a part of my village,” said Jacqueline Camilo, friend and neighbor of the Morgans, to the crowd. “But as I look around here today, I am reminded that we are all blessed to be a part of a great village. I know it is too soon to see the silver lining, but I can say with certainty that the past couple of days have shown me that our community truly embodies what the Morgans have always stood for—helpfulness, kindness, compassion, empathy and love.”