CLEARLAKE, Calif. – A little boy who died in a June 2011 shooting in Clearlake will be commemorated by having a city playground named in his memory.
On Thursday night the Clearlake City Council voted 5-0 to name the playground at Austin Park the Skyler Rapp Memorial Playground.
Four-year-old Skyler Rapp was shot to death on the night of Saturday, June 18, 2011, in the yard of his family’s home on Lakeshore Drive.
The red-haired little boy was roasting marshmallows with family and friends when Paul Braden and Orlando Lopez Jr. opened fire from an adjacent yard, killing the child and wounding five adults, including his mother, Desiree Kirby, and her boyfriend, Ross Sparks.
Skyler was hit multiple times and died at the scene of the shooting, which police said was the worst incident of its kind in the city’s three-decade history.
Over the summer, Braden and Lopez were convicted of the shootings, and sentenced to 312 and 311 years, respectively, in state prison, as Lake County News has reported.
Last year, community member Yolanda Hernandez asked the city to consider renaming Highlands Park in memory of the child.
City Manager Joan Phillipe told the council on Thursday night that after that original request – and before her arrival last October – a subcommittee of city officials discussed the proposal and came up with another idea, that of renaming Austin Park’s playground in honor of the little boy.
The proposal – which Phillipe said had been discussed with Hernandez – will fit with the public facilities and parks naming policy the council accepted last month. Phillipe said there is minimal cost to the city to rename the playground.
The only public comment offered on the item came from Chuck Leonard, a retired councilman, who suggested that – with all due respect to the child – he though parks should be named for people who have done things for the city.
He said it would be more appropriate to name a bench or something else in honor of the child, adding he was concerned that naming and renaming facilities could go on indefinitely.
“We don’t do it for every person that comes along,” said Leonard.
Vice Mayor Jeri Spittler was in favor of honoring the child.
“It is a playground, he was a 4-year-old little boy and I think it’s time for healing,” Spittler said.
Spittler suggested that the gesture will help the family and the community heal and also serve “to remind ourselves where we don’t want to end up ever again.”
Councilmember Judy Thein called it an easy decision to honor the boy, who didn’t have a chance to grow up.
Councilmember Joyce Overton also supported it, saying Skyler’s death affected everyone in the community tremendously, and served as a reminder to cherish children and keep them safe.
Mayor Joey Luiz called the little boy “a martyr,” noting it was very moving to see how many people came out for the June 2011 vigil in the child’s memory.
Spittler moved to approve the playground naming, which the council unanimously approved.
In response to the news of the vote, Hernandez posted on Lake County News’ Facebook page that it was important to remember Skyler.
“He did something special, he woke us all up that this kind of thing doesn’t only happen in a big city,” she wrote, adding that such things can – and did – happen in Clearlake.
“Skyler touched our hearts and brought this community together,” he said.
Hernandez said she asked for the name for one reason – “so this will NEVER happen again. We will be reminded that an innocent CHILD was taken too soon. Skyler if given the chance could have grown up to be an amazing man. I want people to think twice before hurting someone, how would you feel if it were you.”
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