By Tierra Stone
AFRO Intern
tierrastone@afro.com
As the rain came to a standstill on the afternoon of July 21, family and friends gathered at Leith Walk Elementary and Middle school to celebrate the life of Cortez Lemon. The teen was fatally stabbed on July 10 after a verbal altercation on a Maryland Transportation Authority (MTA) bus.
Cortez completed his eighth grade year in June 2024 at Leith Walk Elementary and Middle School, which is located in the heart of Northeast Baltimore. He had hopes of attending highschool thereafter. Unfortunately, his life ended in the hot summer months that preceded the first day of his freshman year.
Leith Walk principal, Ashanti Porter, opened the ceremony and had the attendees gather around in a circle as the ceremony began.
“As a school leader you pray to God that you never have to do one of these moments,” said Porter. “You pray that when you bring the community together that we’re doing it for a joyous reason, but today– as the Leith Walk family– we come together to honor and celebrate the life of our Cortez Lemon.”
Throughout the ceremony some of Lemon’s family and friends came up gradually to share their memories of the late 14 year old. Many people described him as a leader who loved to play football and who Porter endearingly called “our baby” as she explained the relationship between Lemon and the student body.
“You had him in the evening time, but he was our baby in the daytime— it didn’t matter what he did, he was our baby,” said Porter, as she addressed the Lemon family.
As the vigil drew to a close, the attendees blew bubbles and stood in a moment of silence in remembrance of Lemon. The AFRO caught up with some of the attendees as they shared some of their fondest memories with Cortez.
Vonela Lancaster, who works with the IEP department for Leith Walk, shared that Lemon was considered a peacemaker around his peers.
“I’ve been here for 28 years. I watched him grow from five all the way to fourteen,” she said.
“When he was in middle school and if his friends would get into a little situation, he was the person who would say ‘look we’re gonna leave this alone, we’re not fighting and we’re not having all this bad behavior—just let it go man it’s gonna be ok’ and that’s who he was,” said Lancaster.
Bethany Newsome, the school’s counselor, shared insight into Lemons’ personality on a daily basis.
“Cortez was kind, he was sweet, he was thoughtful, reflective, funny, and very polite—he was a gentle soul,” she said.
Even though Baltimore has been known to have an enriching history, in recent years it has garnered the reputation of being one of the most dangerous cities in America. The vigil served not only as a tribute to Lemons’ life, but some of the attendees wanted this day to be a message of putting a stop to the inner city violence.
Newsome didn’t hold back as she explained what she wanted the vigil to represent to the youth that were in attendance.
“It’s an opportunity to reflect and remember to spread love, peace and kindness,” she said.
Porter agreed as she shared what message she wanted the youth to gain from the ceremony and how she wants all of her kids to be safe.
“I just want all my kids to be safe,” she said. “I want all of my babies to understand that there are some real life consequences for the things we do. We have a huge support community for all of our students right now, and we want them to know that they are loved, they are appreciated, they are honored, and we just want them to do their best all the time.”
Eighth grade science teacher Zakiya Kent, not only weighed in on the kind of student Lemon was but how she wants him to be remembered.
“I want people to remember that he was still a child,” she said. “He was somebody’s child and he still had a lot to learn and he deserved that time to learn those things, and with him being a child he made mistakes, but he always tried to make them right — and that’s a sign right there that he would have grown up to be a wonderful man.”