Family and friends of woman and young woman killed during mental health crisis in Missouri hold vigil

Family and friends of a West Seattle woman and an 11-year-old girl who were killed in St. Louis County, Missouri, nearly two weeks ago gathered Sunday afternoon at High Point Commons Park to hold a vigil in honor. to your memory.

The family of 53-year-old Mioshi McCloud and 11-year-old My’Elle Harris told KIRO 7 it’s been a tough few weeks for them.

“Out of nowhere, your loved one… especially your little sister… my little sister, could be taken away like this,” Schwanda Taylor Crow, McCloud’s sister, told KIRO 7.

Crow says McCloud moved to the St. Louis area more than a year ago to start fresh and be closer to other families.

She says her sister was an incredible singer who participated in many shows, collaborations and projects over the years in Seattle.

As for My’Elle’s family and friends, they say she was a mini version of Mioshi who loved to read.

“Just a mama’s girl and a grandma’s girl. All girls, girls,” said Florida Steele Taylor, Mioshi’s sister-in-law.

Berkely police found McCloud and Harris stabbed to death inside a home nearly two weeks ago.

Police arrested McCloud’s own son, 28-year-old Lawrente’ O’Cain, in connection with their deaths.

He remains in custody and has been charged with two counts of first-degree murder and two counts of armed criminal action.

Florida Steele Taylor, Mioshi’s sister-in-law, says McCloud tried to get O’Cain mental help for some time. She also believes this tragedy is a sign of the mental health issues that the U.S. continues to fail to address.

“But it should also give us the opportunity to talk about what mental health really means in our community,” Taylor said.

“They failed them down there. They failed them,” Crow said.

And while many people at Sunday’s vigil shared many fond memories of McCloud and Harris, they believe the system that addresses mental health is broken and hope something like this doesn’t happen to another family.

“It’s a broken system and it has failed our communities. Not just this community, but all communities,” Crow said.

A GoFundMe was created to help the family with funeral and other expenses.