LOUISVILLE, Ky. — In Crown Hill Cemetery rests a young boy loved by a community that never knew him.
“It says ‘Asleep in the arms of Jesus’ and that’s what we believe,” says Corey Churchman, an engraver at Marshall Monument.
Churchman has worked for Marshall Monuments for 7 years.
He has only designed one headstone without knowing the name of the person it honors.
“With hope, the space was left for hope,” says Churchman.
Hope that the identity of the young boy found dead in a suitcase in a wooded area of southern Indiana would one day discovered.
Six months later, Churchman is adding the victim’s name, 5-year-old Cairo Jordan of Atlanta, Georgia.
“This is a bittersweet day to carve his name on the stone,” says Churchman.
Police arrested Dawn Coleman from Shreveport, Louisiana in connection to the boy’s death and an arrest warrant is out for Dejaune Anderson of Atlanta, the boy’s mother.
“So much respect for our law enforcement, our local law enforcement, the Indiana State Police, for giving this boy a name and to give him justice because that’s exactly what he deserves,” says Churchman.
Churchman has engraved headstones for family members and friends, but this one was especially tough for the father of two boys who are younger than Cairo.
“Children are our future and they have limitless potential. Who knows what he would have done or what he could have entered, the man he would have grown up to be?” says Churchman.
Adding his name provides a sense of closure, but he and his community are left to wonder why the boy’s life was cut short.
“Each one matters and this one is one I won’t forget,” says Churchman.
Marshall Monument donated the headstone and engraving service.