This memorial website was created in the memory of our loved one, Brian Jones who was born in Detroit, Michigan on February 23, 1982 and was murdered in Detroit, Michigan near Michigan Avenue and Martin on February 22, 2005 - the night before he was to turn 23. He is gone from our lives, but never our hearts.  We will remember him forever.

~Brian~
Although your journey on this earth was not an easy one, you chose to live beyond your pain. Your life has taught so many people in ways you could have never imagined. Thank you for teaching us to:
• Live
• Love
• Laugh
• Forgive
• Heal
• Surrender
• Smile
• Give
• Play
• Learn
• Change
• Believe
• Care
• Persist
• Transform
• Dream

We are grateful that God brought you into our family and that you allowed your life to teach us. Your son will have a glimpse of the beautiful person you were through all you have touched.
Even though your short journey on this earth is over, your spirit lives on and continues to teach. You would be so proud of Sara—she is an extraordinary mom to your beautiful son, Dante. We are looking forward to getting to know you better through him. Until we see you again.
~uncle shawn and aunt kathleen~

Every lesson learned is a wound on the mend
Every moment spent with those you love is a moment you miss someone you love
Every joy that is experienced is savored just a bit more because of the extreme pain that exists
The great irony of life - experience joy and one must also experience great heartache as well
No one can tell me anymore to stay positive or keep your chin up or look on the bright side
I have stayed alive and that is an accomplishment all on its own
I am missing the love of my life
The one person who even in the midst of my anger could make me not only smile, but laugh
He made me look beyond sadness and dream
The horror of having him ripped away from me, from life
You see he did not "pass away"
He did not peacefully move on from this life to the next
He was murdered...shot in the head three times and left in an alley to die alone, without me, without any consolation
He missed his 23rd birthday by one day
He wasn't able to witness his son come into the world
He didn't make it to see our dreams become a reality
There are no thoughts I have except for him
Of his pain and his life that was cut incredibly short
He is in a cold casket
His eyes closed
His heart not beating
His hands forever unable to feel
His mouth unable to speak, unable to laugh
And I'll be here
My vision jaded by mistrust, hurt and anger
My heart broken in a million pieces
My hands empty of his
My mouth unable to speak of the horror and incredible emptiness I feel

You see the one I love has been murdered
He is no longer here
and neither is my soul 

Did the angels come from heaven
To be with you that night
Did they feel your terror
And take away your fright

Did the angels bear the pain
Of what was being done to you
Did they hear your cries of fear
And stay to help you through

Did the angels hold you tightly
The way I would have done
Did they know how I would feel 
wishing I was the one

Did the angels cry out loudly
For the unjustness of your plight
Did they call on the Lord Jesus
And lead you to the light

Did the angels softly kiss your cheek
Before you took your leave
Did they remind you how I loved you so
And did they know forevermore I'd grieve

Did the angels tell you gently
Don't worry you will not go alone
Did they know that a part of me went with you
The day God called you home 








It is healthy and honorable to weep at the loss of someone we love. 
Healthy because such passion must be released.
Honorable because it is respectful to admit the importance of people who loved and supported us...
PEOPLE WHOSE FOOTPRINTS CANNOT EVER BE MATCHED.











WE LITTLE KNEW THAT MORNING THAT
GOD WAS GOING TO CALL YOUR NAME.
IN LIFE WE LOVED YOU DEARLY,
IN DEATH WE DO THE SAME.
IT BROKE OUR HEARTS TO LOSE YOU,
YOU DID NOT GO ALONE.
FOR PART OF US WENT WITH YOU,
THE DAY GOD CALLED YOU HOME.
YOU LEFT US PEACEFUL MEMORIES,
YOUR LOVE IS STILL OUR GUIDE.
AND THOUGH WE CANNOT SEE YOU,
YOU ARE ALWAYS AT OUR SIDE.
OUR FAMILY CHAIN IS BROKEN,
AND NOTHING SEEMS THE SAME.
BUT AS GOD CALLS US ONE BY ONE,
THE CHAIN WILL LINK AGAIN.












OUR LOVE  OUTLIVES OUR BODIES
OUR LOVE  OUTLASTS OUR WRONGS
LOVE IS SPIRITUAL NOT PHYSICAL
LOVE CONNECTS OUR SOULS ACROSS TIME AND SPACE
THE LOVE BETWEEN SOULS IS NEVER REALLY LOST











What we have once enjoyed we can never lose
All that we have loved deeply becomes a part of us.











I'm one of the stars
I shall be living
In one of them
I shall be laughing
And so it shall be
As if the stars
Were laughing
When you look
At the night sky










In the rising of the sun,
and in it's going down,
We remember you.
In the blowing of the wind
and in the chill of winter,
We remember you.
In the opening of buds
and in the warmth of Summer,
We remember you.
In the rustling of leaves 
and in the beauty of Autumn,
We remember you.
In the beginning of the year
and when it ends
We remember you.
As long as we live,
you shall live too,
For you are a part of us as,
We remember You.











If tears could build a stairway
And memories were a lane
I would walk right up to heaven
To bring you home again

No farewell words were spoken
No time to say good-bye
You were gone before we knew it
And only god knows why

Our hearts still ache in sadness
and secret tears still flow
What it meant to lose you
No one will ever know