PHOENIX — Gage Neal-Belunas was set to turn 22 years old on August 10. This year was the second time his family was forced to celebrate without him.
Loved ones ate his favorite food—sushi for lunch—and gathered at Pioneer Community Park Thursday afternoon, where they had planted a tree in his honor.
“Today is all about him,” said Charlene Belunas, Gage’s mother. “It’s a very special day. Incredibly difficult because he’s not here to celebrate it, but we celebrate anyways.”
Gage and his friend Kyle Ford were found dead inside a white truck on March 17, 2022, near Interstate 17 and Peoria Avenue, Phoenix police said. Both sustained gunshot wounds.
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“It’s just been really hard to process knowing that nobody’s being held accountable,” Charlene Belunas said. “There’s not a lot of evidence showing what happened, a lot of it is just based on assumption of what we do know.”
Finding hope
While she questions the circumstances around her son’s death, Charlene Belunas said she was able to find the strength to keep moving forward for her husband and 5-year-old daughter after joining Parents of Murdered Children.
The national group has chapters across the country, two in Arizona—the Valley of the Sun Chapter and The Southern Arizona Chapter.
They offer support, guidance, and assistance for parents, grandparents, siblings, and loved ones of those who have been affected by murder, said Kim Brysselbout the chapter leader of Valley of the Sun.
“All of our stories are different, but all of them end the same, with our loved one being murdered,” Brysselbout said. “We’re there to help them get through this journey because it’s a really tough journey.”
It’s a group of parents helping parents either by just offering someone to talk to or holding each other’s hands as they go through the court system when a suspect is in their loved one’s case.
On March 19, 2017, Brysselbout’s daughter, Savannah Jeanne Walker was murdered. She was at The Tim Faulkner Gallery in Louisville, Kentucky attending a concert when she was shot and killed.
There were six other people injured in that shooting, but Walker was the only fatality. No one has been arrested in the case.
“When you go through this, you think you’re the only one, but there’s a big support system here for you,” Brysselbout said.
Day to honor and remember murder victims
Parents of Murdered Children hold a National Day of Remembrance for Murder Victims every year. Every chapter holds its own events to honor local victims.
This year the event will take place on September 23 at Granada Park from 3:30 p.m. to 7 p.m. The event will include the release of doves at 4 p.m.
“It’s a day that we honor and remember our loved ones,” Brysselbout said. “It’ll just be a wonderful day of community. We have the children come because they can see that honoring and remembering their loved ones is a wonderful experience. It doesn’t have to all be sad.”
Attendees are encouraged to take an unframed picture of their loved ones to add to a remembrance wall. There will also be activities for children, like chalk painting. Dogs are welcome.
The address is 6505 N 20th Street in Phoenix.
Anyone interested in joining Parents of Murdered Children is encouraged to call 602-254-8818. More details can be found here.
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