Memorial garden captures spirit of victims in Oxford High School shooting

CBS News

2 days ago

Hana's Garden at Seymour Lake Township Park is now open.
The memorial honors the victims of the Oxford High School shooting. It's a project three years in the making.
"I had my doubts many times that we were going to get to this point, but to actually get here and have the garden turn out like it has, is just amazing, even better than what I envisioned," Steve St. Juliana, whose daughter Hanna was one of the victims, said.
The design is centered around the number four.
"For the four students that were killed, Hana (St. Juliana), Justin (Shilling), Tate (Myre), and Madisyn (Baldwin), and so there's groups of four cherry trees, four fountains, things like that," St. Juliana said.
Hints of purple are scattered around the garden — Hana St. Juliana's favorite color.
"It was one of a natural thing for us to add to the garden. And the water feature was just something that we really wanted to have, all of the elements represented. And it also fits in with her Japanese heritage of having the water in the garden as well," St. Juliana said.
During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Hana's father took the opportunity to not only thank the community for their support, but also to demand change.
Oakland County Prosecutor Karen McDonald, surrounded by the mothers of Shilling and Baldwin, says she fully supports the call for statewide action.
"It's changed everybody's lives, everybody in the community. And I, I can't say enough about how much I admire the strength of these families that have not given up," McDonald said. "This group of parents are not going to stop until they get answers."
Hana's father says he hopes the garden will become a pillar of the community for the years to come.