‘This is one of the lowest things you can do:’ Slain Cleveland Heights teen’s headstone goes missing
BEDFORD HEIGHTS, Ohio (WOIO) - May 5 would have been Takim Brown’s 23rd birthday.
His family and friends went to visit his gravesite on Monday, but to their surprise, they found something that they never thought would happen.
His headstone was ripped right out of the ground at Evergreen Memorial Park Cemetery in Bedford Heights.
His family tells me they spent $2,000 on a headstone back in 2020, just a year after his brutal death.
“We came up here for his birthday. We got a phone call from one of his long-term friends, and she was like his headstone wasn’t there,” said Alexis Lee. “We were like, no, you have to be at the wrong location, it’s there. When we came up here, we searched and looked, but it wasn’t here.”
In July 2019, police said he was killed at the top of his street in Cleveland Heights when one shot went off in a parking lot at Mayfield and Eddington.
Over a week later, a 15-year-old was arrested in 2019 in connection with the shooting
Brown’s sister-in-law, Alexis Lee, told 19 News she and her family are still grieving nearly six years after his death.
Now left to wonder, why and who would do this?
“You hurt his family. We just want answers and some form of peace again,” said Lee.
The family has filed a report with Bedford Heights police, hoping officers find whoever is responsible.
Until then, Brown’s loved ones say they are sick to their stomach at what’s happened
“It was just starting to be ok, then this right here opened up the wounds all over again,” said Brown’s cousin.
“It’s terrible. It’s really sick. This is one of the lowest things you can do,” said Lee.
The owner of the cemetery said one gate is kept open at night for visitors.
The owner of the cemetery also checked the cameras in hopes of finding the person or people responsible, but nothing has come up at this point.
If you have any information on who is responsible, please reach out to the Bedford Heights Police
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