Candlelight vigil memorializes the lives of Purdy stabbing attack victims
The dim golden light of handheld candles glowed in the cloudy dusk of Skansie Brothers Park in Gig Harbor Wednesday evening.
Around one hundred people were gathered there for a candlelight vigil honoring the victims of last month’s stabbing attack in Purdy.
On the morning of Feb. 24, four women were stabbed to death in a Key Peninsula neighborhood near the 14000 block of 87th Avenue Court Northwest. Detectives believe there’s probable cause to say that 32-year-old Aleksandr Shablykin, who was shot and killed by a deputy at the scene, committed four counts of first degree murder, according to court records.
The four victims were identified Friday by the Medical Examiner’s Office as Zoya A. Shablykina, 52; Joanne K. Brandani, 59; Stephanie Killilea, 67 and Louise S. Talley, 81.
Shablykina, the suspect’s mother, was described as “a devoted mother and a deeply cherished grandmother who was the source of endless love and light for her daughter, Anastasiya, and her granddaughter, Anna,” in a GoFundMe created by family.
Brandani and Killilea were volunteer members of the Gig Harbor Arts Commission, a city commission dedicated to supporting the development and awareness of fine arts and performing arts. Louise Talley was a volunteer with Visit Gig Harbor, the tourism arm of the Gig Harbor Chamber of Commerce.
At the March 4 event, the women were honored with memorial plaques underneath the park’s pavilion. Baskets underneath contained flowers and other offerings from community members attending the event.
Mary Barber, the mayor of Gig Harbor, as well as Pierce County Council member Robyn Denson, gave remarks to the solemn crowd.
“We gather not only in grief, but in remembrance and gratitude for the purposeful lives that these individuals led,” Denson said during the vigil.
After the mayor’s remarks, Chaplain Gary Rudd from the Gig Harbor Police Department emphasized the importance of lamenting together as a community.
“Lamenting is not complaining,” Rudd said. “It’s not an emotional collapse, but rather an honest sorrow, a community confession of pain and grief. An appeal to help anchor and hope and trust that with God and together, we can overcome even the darkest moments of life. “
Following Rudd was Tacoma Fire Department Chaplain David Wilson, who read each woman’s name, followed by a moment of silence.
Community members remember the women lost to the attack for their selflessness.
Former Gig Harbor resident Beverly Sherfey met Louise Talley over 13 years ago in a social group for single women where they quickly became close friends.
Sherfey remembers her friend as altruistic and family-oriented. After the deadly 2018 Camp Fire wiped out the town of Paradise, California, Talley shipped boxes of books she collected at thrift stores to high schools in that area to replace those lost to the flames.
Talley was also well-traveled, having filled her house with memorabilia from places like India, China and Africa, Sherfey said.
She was so taken by an orphanage in Africa that she went back a second time, bringing luggage filled with children’s clothing.
“She wanted so badly for her grandchildren and their parents to go and see this orphanage and volunteer there that she paid for the whole trip for all of them,” Sherfey said. “That was money that she could have kept for her own future. Instead, she took them so they could see what it was like in this orphanage that she’d grown so fond of.”
Talley was a photographer, an avid gardener and a volunteer for the city of Gig Harbor who greeted visitors.
“She’s just done so many things that served other people,” Sherfey said. “She was a very selfless person.”
