Dozens of friends, neighbors and family members turned out Friday night for a vigil to honor the lives of Beverly and Wendell Harmon in front of their Altadena home, where the couple were shot and killed last week in a case that remains unsolved.
Many of those who gathered outside the home clutched white candlesticks, which glowed in the cool evening as the somber ceremony led off with a prayer by a childhood friend of Wendell Harmon, Manuel “Pokey” Galloway.
“No matter what we go through in life, God is still good,” Galloway said to the crowd.
Several attendees shared memories about the loving nature of Beverly and Wendell, a couple married for more than 30 years. “If anybody loved you, it was these two,” said Dariel Johnson, a niece of the Harmon couple.
Dozens of red and white candles and flower bouquets lined the front porch of the Harmons’ home. Above, small lights spelling out ‘Wen [heart] Bev’ hung on a black piece of fabric draped over a board covering the home’s front window.
A “Keep Out’” sign hung in the middle of a wreath on the couple’s front door. Below hung a Miami Dolphins flag, and just below that rested an encased Dolphins helmet. Wendell was a big fan of the Florida football team, according to one of his brothers, Kenneth Harmon.
“The number of people here [shows] the respect for the family. This is why everybody’s here,” said Rick Law, a former commander of the Pasadena Police Department, who retired in 2008.
‘Family reunion’ by The O’Jays played as vigil attendees wrote messages for the couple on blue and pink balloons before releasing them into the night sky.
The couple were found slain on Dec. 20 in a case that remains under investigation. Their bodies were found after the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department responded to a welfare check at their home on the 700 block of West Sacramento Street. Authorities have since described the case as a double-homicide but have released very little detail on what led up to the crime or whether a suspect or suspects remain on the loose.
