A red flag with images of blue paper doll figures holding hands was raised at the Colusa County Courthouse on Friday to remember the lives of children and youth lost to violence.
An ocean of people in blue shirts surrounded the flagpole for the brief ceremony, held by Colusa County Community Advocates for Parents and Children and Health and Human Services.
The event concluded a number of public awareness events held in April, which is Child Abuse Prevention Month.
The agencies acquired the Children’s Memorial Flag, which has become a symbol of the need to do a better job at protecting children, from the Child Welfare League of America, said Carissa Bowers, CAPC executive director.
“It is our pursuit that every child lives in a safe, nurturing community where they’re valued, and families are supported; in a community free of abuse, neglect, and violence within our neighborhoods and our neighborhood homes,” Bowers said.
While local agencies have participated for many years in activities to raise awareness of child abuse and neglect, this was the first year they joined in the state and national effort to memorialize the lives cut short by violence on Children’s Memorial Flag Day.
“Today, the precious lives are honored and celebrated as it casts a light on a topic so vitally important,” Bowers said.
Supervisor Merced Corona thanked the agencies that made the ceremony possible and said Colusa County stands united with the rest of the country to show support for families, including his own, that have suffered the loss of a young loved one to violence.
“Although not a child, 22-year-old Davis Police Officer Natalie Corona was our child,” Corona said. “She was shot and killed while investigating a non-injury accident… Natalie was living her dream. Becoming a police officer was all she wanted to do, and that was ripped from her instantly and changed our lives forever.”
Corona said others killed by unspeakable violence also had dreams that will never be realized, and their parents and family members robbed of a life with them.
Corona spoke of Erik Ingebretsen, a Colusa 16-year-old who was killed in 1997 by his two childhood best friends. One of his killers has been released from prison. The orchestrator of the crime will have his first parole hearing in July, following a Supreme Court decision that banned mandatory life sentences without parole for juvenile offenders.
Erik’s mother, Valerie Ingebretsen, addressed the Board of Supervisors during their regular meeting on April 26, when the board proclaimed the fourth Friday in April as Child Memorial Flag Day.
Ingebretsen, who also attended Friday’s ceremony, said Children’s Memorial Flag Day is a great way to honor and remember her son’s life and the other Colusa County residents lost to violence, whether they are actually children or young adults.
“Erik Ingebretsen, my son, died of violence; a brutal stabbing death 26 years ago,” she said. “There are at least eight others… And, as the years pass, as many years pass, they seemingly slip off and away into the horizon. But that is never the case with their families.”
Among the children and young adults killed in Colusa County, although not specifically mentioned at the ceremony, was 13-year-old Edgar Ibarra, of Williams, who died on Aug. 26, 2008, three days after he collapsed in his yard after being stabbed by his 12-year-old neighbor.
The boys had reportedly been engaged in name-calling when the incident occurred. Although the juvenile told police he stabbed Ibarra about six times with a pen, a medical examiner later confirmed the weapon had been consistent with a knife or something similar, according to court records.
The juvenile, who turned 13 a few days after Ibarra’s death, was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sentenced to 11 years in a juvenile detention facility. He has since been released.
Miguel Muniz, 14, of Colusa, was shot and killed by two teenage boys who believed he was part of a rival gang. A Colusa police officer found Muniz dead on Sioc Street on the evening of Aug. 23, 2012.
The two teens, ages 16 and 18, remain in prison awaiting parole.
Giovanny Alcaraz, 19, of Colusa, was shot twice in the head and died just yards away from his apartment on Wescott Road, on March 26, 2020.
The suspect, 19-year-old Christian Suarez, of Arbuckle, is believed to have absconded to Mexico and is being sought by the US Marshall Services.
Although not a child, 25-year-old Jessica Mazak, of Colusa, was bludgeoned to death by an acquaintance as she walked her dog in 2018. Her family attended Friday’s ceremony because, as Corona said of his daughter, Mazak was their child.
Karen Garcia, of Williams, was 22-years-old when she was bludgeoned to death in the Colusa apartment she had recently shared with her ex-boyfriend.
Mazak’s accused killer is awaiting trial; Garcia’s killer is serving 25 years to life in prison.
According to UNICEF for Children, somewhere in the world, an adolescent is killed by an act of violence every seven minutes. Those aged 15 to 19 are particularly vulnerable, being three times more likely to die violently than younger adolescents aged 10 to 14.
Bowers said the death of children and young people to abuse or violence is senseless, and that it is her hope that the community can come together with a focus on prevention rather than reaction.
“We all need to come together as a community united to be that voice that stands up for children,” Bowers said. “Every child needs an opportunity to be raised in a healthy, nurturing environment, free from abuse, neglect, and violence.” ■