A full weekend of events are scheduled to remember two Merced brothers who were killed in separate incidents roughly a decade and a half ago.
Michael Riley, his younger brother Marlis, and crime victims who have lost their lives to violence will be honored with a candlelight vigil, a community walk and church service.
The candlelight vigil is scheduled for 6 to 8 p.m. Friday, Oct. 11 at the Merced County Courthouse Museum, located at 21st and N streets.
The community walk is scheduled for 12 p.m. Saturday, Oct 12. Participants will gather in the FoodMaxx parking lot, located at 1300 W. Olive Ave. Participants will walk from the parking lot through the city’s Loughborough area. A dove release is scheduled to take place.
The church service is scheduled for 11 a.m. Sunday, Oct. 13 at St. Matthew Baptist Church, 1057 N St. in Merced. A balloon launch is scheduled after the service, followed by a small lunch.
Michael Riley was a 29-year-old A Navy veteran who was fatally shot on Oct. 7, 2008, outside the Village Meadows Apartments, in the 1100 block of Loughborough Drive in Merced.
At the time of his death, Michael Riley had been planning to transfer from Merced College to either Stanislaus State or the UC Berkeley with the goal of getting a Harvard Law School degree. He served in Iraq and Afghanistan.
His younger brother Marlis Riley, 27, was killed Sept. 12, 2009, after a fight with two men.