Parents Remember and Mourn Two Students Killed in Annunciation Catholic Church Attack

(KNSI) — The families of the two children who were killed in Wednesday’s deadly attack at Annunciation Catholic Church are asking people to remember their kids for the good they brought to those around them and not the evil that ended their lives.

Jesse Merkel, father of eight-year-old Fletcher Merkel, called the shooter a “coward” who decided to take his son from him. In an emotion-filled statement he gave at a press conference Thursday, Merkel said that “Because of their actions, we will never be allowed to hold him, talk to him, play with him, and watch him grow into the wonderful young man he was on the path to becoming. Fletcher loved his family, friends, fishing, cooking, and any sport that he was allowed to play.”

His voice breaking, he wrapped up his statement by asking not for sympathy, but rather for empathy, “as our family and the Annunciation community grieve and try to make sense of such a senseless act of violence. Please remember Fletcher for the person he was and not the act that ended his life. Give your kids an extra hug and kiss today. We love you, Fletcher. You will always be with us.”

His family plans to establish a scholarship in his name.

Also killed was ten-year-old Harper Moyski. Michael Moyski and Jackie Flavin issued a statement saying they are heartbroken and devastated, adding that Harper was bright, joyful, and deeply loved, and whose laughter, kindness, and spirit touched everyone who knew her.

Harper had a younger sister who adored her, and in the statement, it read their family is “shattered” and “words cannot capture the depth of our pain.”

Both expressed gratitude for the heroic actions of the staff and first responders, with Merkel noting, “Without these people and their selfless actions, this could have been a tragedy of many magnitudes more.”

Moyski’s family hopes their loss fuels action. “Change is possible, and it is necessary so that Harper’s story does not become yet another in a long line of tragedies.”

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