Mom provides headstones, encourages justice for families grieving loved ones lost to police

Kimberly Handy-Jones knew she wanted to create something to honor the memory of her son Cordale, who was killed in 2017 in a confrontation with St. Paul police. But it wasn't until she was visiting the North Chicago cemetery where both her son and late husband were laid to rest that she was struck with an idea.

"I was crying and cleaning the gravestone and God just said, 'Here it is,' " Handy-Jones said.

Handy-Jones founded the Cordale Q. Handy In Remembrance of Me Foundation, an organization that provides headstones and financial grants for families across the country who have lost loved ones to police and community violence. While monetary assistance has been a welcome relief to families, it has been Handy-Jones' emotional support to a sisterhood of grieving mothers and family members that advocates say has set her apart.

This week, four years after her son died in an altercation with police, Handy-Jones was on the East Side of St. Paul near the site where he was fatally shot to host a rally and short march surrounded by about 100 supporters and activists from Black Lives Matter Minnesota and other groups. The group erected a bench in Handy's memory.

As the trial of former Minneapolis police officer Derek Chauvin continues over the next several weeks, Handy-Jones encouraged others to "keep their boots on the ground," a motto for her organization, and continue to fight and speak out against police brutality and systemic racism.

"God said, 'I'm going to take your hurt and turn it into purpose,' " Handy-Jones said to the crowd.

Family member after family member, often with tears in their eyes, spoke of how Handy-Jones reached out to them after a loved one was killed, offering late-night phone conversations and other support.

"For those of you all that don't understand what that's like [to lose someone], let me just say it is very difficult," said Del Shea Perry, mother of Hardel Sherrell, who died in the Beltrami County jail in 2018 and whose death is being investigated. "Kim not only puts her boots on the ground, but, my God, she be running in them."

As they embraced in front of a mural of Cordale Handy painted on the side of Mañana restaurant near where he was killed, Perry presented Handy-Jones with a pair of Timberland boots in Handy's favorite color — red — with his picture attached.

In Handy's case, prosecutors didn't file charges against the officers, but his mother continues to dispute that police were justified in the shooting.

Matilda Smith, mother of Jaffort Smith, who was fatally shot by St. Paul police in 2016 after police said he fired on them, recounted how her family had received a headstone from the foundation and acknowledged the cross that Handy-Jones has continued to carry.

"We here in Minnesota will always be thankful for you," Smith said.

Handy-Jones has been a vocal advocate for police accountability, often making the six-hour drive from Chicago to the Twin Cities to support other families and to host an annual weekend of activities that includes therapy discussions and a banquet for families who have lost someone in encounters with police.

This year, the event is tentatively scheduled for July.

Headstones can cost hundreds of dollars apiece, and the foundation has provided about 15 to families so far.

Grieving parents "are not prepared" for the costs and emotional load of burying their children, she said. "They think their sons and daughters are going to bury them."

The group also awards grants to family members of Black men who have been killed by law enforcement.

With the unfolding of the trial of Chauvin, who is charged with murder for his role in the death of George Floyd, activists have tried to highlight and push for further investigation in other cases of police-involved killings that never made it to court. Handy-Jones encouraged advocates and families to stay strong and keep fighting.

"We need to keep it moving," Handy-Jones said, as she rested after the rally with her crisp red boots dangling from her open car door. "No matter what, we need to keep the course. … I just urge people to keep their boots on the ground."

Nicole Norfleet • 612-673-4495

Twitter: @nicolenorfleet