Wednesday, December 29, 1999

Slain clerk's family tries to deal with loss

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Husband, 8 kids plan to move

BY PHILLIP PINA
The Cincinnati Enquirer

Mable Washington

        The family of Mable Washington, killed in a Christmas Day robbery in the West End, is struggling to overcome the pain.

        Mrs. Washington, 35, was shot to death by a robber while working at Cornell's Grocery at 516 W. Liberty St. on Saturday night. Her killer has eluded police.

        Her husband, James Washington, and their eight children are planning to move away from the apartment where they lived. It is in the same building as the grocery, a floor above where the killing took place.

TO CONTRIBUTE

Those wishing to contribute to the well-being of the Washington children may do so to the Mable Washington Memorial Fund, c/o Westwood Homestead Savings Bank, 3002 Harrison Ave., Westwood. 661-5735.

        The memories are too fresh for the family to stay, relatives said. It doesn't help that the gunman is still on the loose. Mr. Washington and the children have been staying with relatives.

        “It's just too much for them to handle,” said Jacqulyn Washington of North Fairmount, Mrs. Washington's sister-in- law.

        As Mrs. Washington's family prepared her funeral plans, they clung to memories of a kind person. A Cincinnati native, Mrs. Washington was quick to lend a helping hand and a warm smile, her sister-in-law said.

        “Everybody that knew her is going to miss her,” Mr. Washington said. She would always go out of her way to help others. It was what she was doing the night she was shot.

        A nursing assistant by trade, Mrs. Washington was working part time at Cornell's. She had Christmas Day off, but after returning home from spending the holiday with relatives, she decided to help out at the store for a while.

        As she stocked shelves, a masked gunman entered the store to rob it about 10:25 p.m. The gunman shot Mrs. Washington in the neck before making off with an undetermined amount of cash, police said. Detectives continue to investigate. No arrests have been made, officers said.

        Mrs. Washington spent much of her life in the West End neighborhood her family now wants to flee. She attended the neighborhood schools before eventually getting a GED, her sister-in-law said.

        Mrs. Washington had worked at a Covington nursing home in past years.

        “Mable was the most beautiful person in the world,” Mr. Washington said.

        The children, who range in age from 5 to 17, have taken the loss hard, Ms. Washington said.

        “But they've got a lot of family here to help them through it,” Ms. Washington said.

        Other survivors include: Mrs. Washington's mother, Cora Malcolm of Winton Terrace; four daughters, Ebony Washington, Jamie Washington, Melissa Washington and Sharon Washington, all at home; four sons, Curtis Washington, Willie Washington, Tyrone Washington and James Washington Jr., all at home; three sisters; two brothers;and her mother-in-law, Sallie Washington, and father-in-law, Dorsey Washington, both of North Fairmount.

        Funeral services will be 11 a.m. Friday at the Renfro Funeral Home, 647 Forest Ave., Avondale. Visitation will be held before the services at the funeral home, beginning at 10 a.m. Friday.

        Burial will be in the Baltimore Pike Cemetery in Westwood.

       

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