Memorial service held for murdered Redding homeless man
By Jim Schultz
Saturday, May 2, 2009
Although he was homeless, Timothy Lee Alcorn had many friends and loved ones.
A standing-room-only crowd filled McDonald’s Redding Chapel on Friday to honor him and his family shortly before his cremated remains were interred at Redding Memorial Park.
Alcorn, 48, was found beaten to death on April 20 in a wooded area near the old Masonic Lodge in Redding.
Those entering the chapel for the memorial service Friday morning walked past a collage of photographs that included Alcorn as a boy dressed in his football uniform and as a freshly scrubbed elementary school student with his entire life filled with promise before him.
Another display featured certificates of accomplishment of which Alcorn was proud.
The service included prayers and songs by his family members
Alcorn may have had his faults, but he was a peaceful child of God, said his brother-in-law, David Picciuto, pastor of the Church of Jesus Christ in Modesto, who delivered the eulogy.
“They didn’t take the life of a bum,” he said of three teenagers accused of murdering Alcorn. “They took the life of a prince.”
Saying there is evil everywhere, Picciuto encouraged those at the service to accept Christ and help combat that evil.
“I hope something from this (tragedy) will turn into something beautiful,” he said.
Earlier in the morning, Christian motorcyclists held a brief service near the crime scene before proceeding to the chapel.
Jim Schultz can be reached at 225-8223 or at jschultz@redding.com.
E.W. Scripps Co.
Paul Davis comforts his friend Diane Dillon Friday during Timothy Lee Alcorn’s funeral services at McDonald’s Chapel.
Paul Davis comforts his friend Diane Dillon Friday during Timothy Lee Alcorn’s funeral services at McDonald’s Chapel. “It’s really sad because Tim lived behind Masonic for 10 years…now these newcomers are coming in and we’re kind of scared,” Dillon said, “He was a very kind person.” Davis said he was one of Alcorn’s best friends. Nathan Morgan/Record Searchlight
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Paul Davis comforts his friend Diane Dillon Friday during Timothy Lee Alcorn’s funeral services at McDonald’s Chapel. “It’s really sad because Tim lived behind Masonic for 10 years…now these newcomers are coming in and we’re kind of scared,” Dillon said, “He was a very kind person.” Davis said he was one of Alcorn’s best friends.
HERE is the link to the article.
Teens plotted to rob and beat homeless man in murder case, police say
See article HERE
Rest in Peace, Tim Alcorn.
It is a horrendous reality that youth are taught by the behavior and attitude of older people, the POLICE, and the sick society in general, that people who are living on the streets are disposable. When a homeless person is slain by civilians, people who are usually indifferent or even cruel to homeless people get mad and they want punishment for the killers. When homeless people are beat and/or slain by the police, those same people want to justify it and say the police were doing their job- to justify the unjustifiable.
These murders will not stop until the society truly teaches that we are all worth care and dignity.
It is s nasty irony when the police talk of “plots” to beat up a homeless person- because that is a mainstay of U.S. policing.
Perhaps ‘we’ can learn this time- from Tim’s death- Start opening up to each other, being brave enough to show care for people we don’t know or don’t think we would understand, defending the right for ALL to exist in dignity.