More than a thousand people have gathered in the rain in Melbourne‘s Royal Park to hold silent vigil for murdered woman Courtney Herron.
Friends, family and members of the public congregated at the place where the 25-year-old’s body was found almost a week ago.
The gathering continues to swell on a cold and miserable evening. Good on you Melbourne, for showing you care and that Courtney Herron deserved so much more @10NewsFirstMelb pic.twitter.com/SkXdWAXksw
— Emma O’Sullivan (@emma_os) May 31, 2019
Mourners gathered under umbrellas, lit candles and laid flowers and tributes on the site where Courtney was discovered. She is the fourth woman to be killed in a public place in Melbourne within the last twelve months.
Despite the rain and the cold, more than 1000 attended the sombre vigil for murdered Melbourne woman Courtney Herron tonight. Her grandmother kissed a large framed photo of the 25yo and a poem was read on the family’s behalf. pic.twitter.com/NtZRZms6eu
— Rohan Smith (@Ro_Smith) May 31, 2019
A poem was read on behalf of Courtney’s family, who were in attendance at the vigil; after the poem finished, her mother commented that that rain stopped while it was being read. The ABC reports one family member saying:
It’s been raining all day and now it’s stopped. Be happy baby.
One of the organisers of the vigil, Jessamy Gleeson, told ABC Radio earlier today:
With all of Courtney’s loved ones grieving and the community mourning, we see a vigil as really appropriate as a space to honour Courtney’s life.
It’s a way for us, as well, to generally draw attention to the fact that we keep doing these vigils. It’s not a one-off for us.
Our vigils are organised for every woman and child that is murdered at the hands of a man in Australia.
At the moment, we’re doing vigils almost every week.
If men like Joe Hildebrand came to vigils like Courtney’s, sat in the heaviness of that space, felt our grief for a moment—even just a bit of it—things might be a little better. But they won’t. They don’t. They make sure that this pain is ours to carry. #CourtneyHerron
— Madison Griffiths (@madrgriffiths) May 31, 2019
Courtney’s death has renewed the conversation about women’s safety in the city, with one of her friends saying she no longer felt safe walking through parks. A man is in custody charged with Courtney Herron’s murder.