The family of Tara Romero, a local teen who was gunned down in a drive-by shooting in 2011, and the residents of Morgan Hill are nearing the home stretch in their commitment to bring a life-size bronze sculpture of her likeness to a prominent public location.
The City of Morgan Hill recently established a fundraising campaign at gofundme.com to fund the remaining expenses to complete the statue of Romero and transport it from southern California. The goal of the campaign is to raise $10,000, specifically for statue refinements, a cement base, plaque, transportation and installation, according to the fundraising page found at gofundme.com/tara-romero-memorial-sculpture.
When the artwork is complete, it will be placed at “a central location” in the public pedestrian plaza between City Hall and the Morgan Hill Library, on the west side of town in the area of Peak, Alkire and West Main avenues, according to city staff.
While the statue, titled “Never Forgotten,” is created and commissioned to depict a young girl in Romero’s likeness, it will also represent the many other young lives taken too soon by violence, according to her parents and others in the community who united in response to the 2011 shooting. It will also serve as an inspirational symbol of hope, peace and unity for young people growing up in Morgan Hill, according to city officials.
“With the (ongoing) movement against violence, it’s time for young people to make their voices heard,” said Lisa Washington, who sits on a Library, Culture and Arts commission subcommittee for the gofundme campaign. “The timing is there, and the city is behind it. It’s meant to be uplifting.”
The Morgan Hill City Council approved the placement of the statue as a public art piece in 2012, but did not dedicate public funds to the project. In the years since Romero’s death, her family has paid more than $22,000 to Los Angeles-based artist Dee Spellerman to create the sculpture.
Romero’s father, Joseph Romero, a Fresno resident, said the statue is mostly finished. The artwork is about six feet tall, depicting a young girl gazing up at El Toro mountain above City Hall, with her right hand stretched upward and lifting a butterfly. Joseph is getting ready to create a plaque that will be attached to the base of the statue, describing why it is there.
The parents continue to struggle with their daughter’s death, as the criminal proceedings against one of the five men accused of killing her continues to drag through the courts, and another acquitted in a 2016 trial. Romero’s mother, Annette Nevarez, of Morgan Hill, said the statue will offer her a place to sit and reflect.
“My life has been on hold,” Nevarez said. “I feel like she’s there with me. (The statue) will be a place where I can go sit down and see her. I’ll be a lot happier. She was such a good little girl.”
Romero was a 14-year-old freshman at Sobrato High School when she died in a drive-by shooting at the intersection of Cosmo and Del Monte avenues on Nov. 4, 2011. The shooting took place just outside the Village Avante apartment complex, less than one mile south of the statue’s proposed location.
The shooting happened when five men in a Chrysler drove by the intersection and opened fire on a group of teens standing in a grassy area on the corner. Romero was pronounced dead at the scene, and three of her friends and classmates at Sobrato were injured by the gunfire.
Police said the suspects were members of an illegal street gang, and fired at the victims thinking they were members of a rival gang with whom they had been feuding in the preceding weeks. The teen victims had no history of involvement in any gang activity.
Morgan Hill Police surrounded the suspects inside a nearby residence within minutes after the shooting, and arrested them a few hours later after convincing them to surrender.
Three of the suspects have been convicted of murder and attempted murder in relation to the drive-by shooting that took Tara Romero’s life. One was acquitted of all charges following a lengthy jury trial in 2016. The fifth suspect has been ruled not competent to stand trial, and remains in custody at a state mental hospital until he is well enough to face the charges against him.
Joseph Romero added that for him, the statue will be a place he can visit and “lay a flower there and memorialize Tara.” For the community at large, it’s a reminder that such a violent death “could happen to anybody.”
As of April 3, the gofundme site for the Never Forgotten statue has raised just over $1,500. The city’s LCAC formed a subcommittee to organize the effort and encourage residents, civic organizations, community leaders and businesses to contribute to the cause.
The subcommittee consists of Washington, Tara’s brother Joey Romero (also an artist), Morgan Hill Community Services Supervisor Jennie Tucker, Community Services Director Chris Ghione, as well as LCAC commissioners Paul Lake, Katie Khera and Daniel Redfield.
Washington’s daughter, Tyler, was one of Tara Romero’s best friends.
“During this season of renewal and fresh beginnings, it’s a perfect time to support Tara’s family in their desire to memorialize her young life, and to creatively express the right of ‘everyone’s child’ to envision and achieve their dreams in a peaceful, nonviolent community,” Lake said. “With your contributions, we’ll be able to officially unveil the sculpture in the coming weeks alongside members of the Morgan Hill City Council.”
<
The city’s fundraising campaign to complete, transport and install the “Never Forgotten” statue—a likeness of Tara Romero—can be found online at gofundme.com/tara-romero-memorial-sculpture. Contributions can be made electronically, directly on the site.
