BATTLE CREEK, Mich. — Ashley Gaw and her family have visited her mother’s grave at Oak Hill Cemetery many times over the last year.
However, after Jerry Harston’s sentencing at the Battle Creek Courthouse on Friday, July 21, Gaw and 18 others returned to the site. And this time, they came with balloons in hand.
“1, 2, 3, forever in our hearts. We love you,” they all said in unison in honor of Angela Kay Clear.
Then, they released pink balloons into the air. They said pink was Clear’s favorite color.
“My mom, you know, we’re thinking about her and miss her and she hopefully will see [the balloons] and get them,” Gaw said. “We just miss her a lot.”
“Her love & light will always shine bright within us & thru us forever”
— Lauren Edwards (@LaurenEdwardsTV) July 21, 2023
Angela Clear was found deceased in her home in Battle Creek in March 2022.
Today the man charged in her death was sentenced to prison.
The family says her death is not how she will be remembered. // @FOX17 pic.twitter.com/GAotgFDIf2
In March 2022, Clear, 51, was found deceased in her apartment at Cherry Hill Manor after police performed a welfare check.
Police also noticed that her car was missing.
“I remember dropping my mom off with him at her apartment, and that was the last day I seen her alive,” Gaw recalled. “When I didn’t hear from her for two days, I know to call my mom because I always hear from her every five-ten minutes. Something just didn’t seem right.”
Her car was later found, and Jerry Harston was charged with murder.
Friday, he was sentenced to 40-80 years in prison.
Gaw didn’t speak during court. However, her daughter Alexandria did.
“I just had to make sure that I let everybody know how loved my grandma was, you know, what she meant to us, what she did to us, what we’re holding on to,” Alexandria said. “Her love and her light will always shine bright within us and through us forever.”
Clear was buried at Oak Hill next to her mother, Katherine Smith, who died in 2015.
Gaw said they’ll continue to visit Clear’s grave, especially in the next few months and for her birthday.
She said the family will likely release balloons again.
“I like to release the balloons to let her know that we’re still thinking about her,” said Clear’s granddaughter Kaylee Bernal. “We still care about her, and that she’s always with us, forever. We’re sending her a message and letting her know how we feel.”
