Father of 3 killed while at vigil for friend, who was also murdered, family says

CLEVELAND, Ohio (WOIO/Gray News) - A father of three young children was shot and killed while attending a vigil for his friend, who was also murdered.

As the loved ones of 26-year-old Kelvin Clark of Cleveland gathered to honor his memory with a picnic and balloon release, they also bowed their heads to pray for the senseless gun violence to stop.

Robert Allen was the victim’s best friend for 15 years. He couldn’t fight back a flood of tears for the loss of his friend.

Allen told WOIO that Clark had big plans for his future. Clark landed a job in Alaska and wanted to move out of the city to get away from all the violence.

“His dreams was to get our family out of her,” Allen said. “That’s the main thing he wants us to do, all of us. We wanted to make it out.”

Clark died at the hospital, his family said, after being shot in the head in the area of Easton Park, near Bessemer and East 93rd.

Ta’liyah Kiera was Clark’s girlfriend. She wants the community to remember that her boyfriend was big on family.

“He was everybody’s protector. If he loved you and had love for you he would protect you with everything within him,” Kiera said.

Clark’s sister, Chelsea Gresham, told WOIO that the death of her brother means another mother will have to bury her son, and three young children will now grow up without their father.

“It needs to stop. But, I feel like it’s never going to stop,” Gresham said. “These moms are raising knuckleheads. But, I feel like these men need to come together and get the young generation to find things to do, instead of killing each other.”

As balloons were released in honor of Gresham’s brother, she said she wanted to try and get past the grief and honor his life.

“I don’t want us to be sad, I want it to be like a celebration because my brother loved to have fun,” Gresham said.

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