FAMILIES REMEMBER THOSE LOST TO DRUGS' DEADLY LURE

At A Vigil, Sharing Grief, Offering Comfort

One by one, they stood in a Port Richmond church last night, bearing small
wooden crosses engraved with the names of area residents who had died from
drug or alcohol abuse.

Since last year's "Lights of Darkness" vigil, 36 names have been added. The
list now numbers 192. Among them, Krystle Baehr, 16, of Northeast
Philadelphia, who was found dead last December in an abandoned car. A
junior at Archbishop Ryan High School, Baehr died after snorting heroin for
the first time.

Baehr's mother, Linda Murray, a Philadelphia police officer, found comfort
at last night's vigil at Our Lady Help of Christians Church on Allegheny
Avenue.

"When you lose a child, you lose your future," said Murray, who found
herself surrounded by other bereaved mothers.

The names were read by Jason Kluska, whose cousin Karen Lynn Berry died at
age 17 in 1998 of a heroin overdose. Kluska also read out each victim's
age. Many of them were in their 20s and 30s. Some were teens.

For Kathy Berry of Port Richmond, Murray's story sounded all too familiar.
Last night's vigil was started five years ago by the Berry family to
commemorate the heroin-overdose death of her daughter Karen.

Since then, Berry has gone on to speak to groups throughout the region,
through the Philadelphia Police Department's Heads Up program. She has also
joined other mothers in MomsTell Coalition, a group that lobbies Harrisburg
on drug issues.

Last night, with tears in her eyes, Berry stood, her arms around family.

She was joined by about 300 people, including District Attorney Lynne M.
Abraham and the director of the Heads Up program, Philadelphia Police
Narcotics Chief Raymond Rooney.

Participating in the vigil "should be getting easier, but it seems to get
harder because every year we are adding more names to the list," Berry said.

Kathleen Maldonado attended the vigil with her two daughters and a
granddaughter. Her son, Eddie, died of a heroin overdose on June 2, 2000.
He was 24. The family wore T-shirts bearing his picture and the words In
loving memory.

The vigil was a way to remind everyone that people addicted to drugs need
help and sympathy, the family said. "They aren't pieces of dirt," said
Maryann Maldonado, Eddie Maldonado's sister. "There are loved ones, family
who love them."

On the streets of Port Richmond, a neighborhood of modest rowhouses, Berry
knows there are other teenagers risking their lives with drugs.

"They are watching their friends die and they are just continuing to do the
same things. It makes no sense to me at all... . It's just so sad, that
they don't learn from their friends' deaths."