A Sept. 19 memorial for 17-year-old Anthonaya Campbell drew hundreds to Haffen Park, where they released purple and white balloons into the sky and wore t-shirts with her nickname “Ming” on the front and “Forever 17” on the back.
Campbell, who lived in Hartford, Conn., survived at Jacobi Hospital for about two weeks after being shot in the face on Aug. 23 amid a crowd of people watching a basketball tournament at the park. She succumbed to her injuries on Sept. 8.
Jaceil Banks, 32, had previously died in the shooting, and two more were injured. Four people, two of whom are minors, have since been charged with murder, attempted murder, gang assault and criminal weapons possession.
At the memorial, Campbell’s mother, Jennifer Talbot, told the Bronx Times that her daughter was just about to start a patient care technician course that Talbot teaches. In keeping with a long family tradition in service careers, including a grandmother who worked 40 years in health care, Anthonaya was set on becoming a speech pathologist, Talbot said.
Anthonaya was “like a big sister” to her friends going through hard times, according to her mother.
Talbot said she had just finished her own doctorate degree in Christian mental health counseling when her daughter was shot and credited Anthonaya’s support for the accomplishment. “She encouraged me, and she encouraged the family.”
Talbot said she wants to start a nonprofit in Anthonaya’s name, dedicated to supporting survivors of gun violence and teaching CPR to young people. If anyone nearby had been trained in CPR, it may have helped her daughter at the scene of the shooting, she said.
“The only thing I can do now is put a positive foot forward,” said Talbot. “My daughter was about love, and I don’t have the energy to hate anybody right now.”
Even so, Talbot said she is left with lingering thoughts that her daughter might have had a better outcome in a different hospital and publicly expressed dissatisfaction with her daughter’s care at Jacobi.
Talbot said “the compassion just wasn’t there” and that her request to transfer her daughter to a different hospital was “ignored” with no explanation.
A spokesperson for Jacobi said that the hospital could not comment on Campbell’s specific medical situation under HIPAA restrictions and that the family has not signed a waiver permitting them to do so.
“NYC Health + Hospitals/Jacobi, as a Level 1 Trauma Center for both the Bronx and lower Westchester County, prides itself on providing the highest level of care to all of our patients, including this particular patient,” the hospital said in a statement. “Gun violence continues to be a tragedy that afflicts all of our communities, and we will continue to do all that we can, both in and outside the walls of our hospital, to assist both our communities and patients in need of care.”
Despite the tragedy, Talbot said she is committed to keeping her daughter’s memory alive. “I was blessed for 17 years with an angel.”
Before food was served, Talbot asked the crowd of mourners “to keep Ming’s name active and productive so other people can experience the love that she stood for.”
She also asked everyone to join hands in prayer, led by Bishop Boyde Singletary, a frequent supporter of Bronx families who lose a loved one to gun violence.
At the park, Selma Bartholomew, who lives nearby and is a write-in candidate for New York City mayor, comforted Campbell’s two best friends as they nearly collapsed in tears.
She told the Bronx Times that a culture of “passive violence” in the city was causing grieving families to suffer even more.
Bartholomew said she wishes the city would do more to support family members of people who are shot. The NYPD has fewer officers dedicated to working in communities, and Talbot was rallying basically alone to try to get her daughter moved to a different hospital, she said.
Oftentimes, “The family becomes the victim,” said Bartholomew. “Why are we expecting kids to have the tools to bury a friend at 18?”
Reach Emily Swanson at eswanson@schnepsmedia.com or (646) 717-0015. For more coverage, follow us on Twitter, Facebook and Instagram @bronxtimes
