The support Lisa Hassam said she received from the Oakland community during the darkest time of her life was overwhelming.
“The outpouring of love and support that was showered upon us, during this darkest time of our lives, was a bit difficult to absorb,” she wrote in an email last week. “But it was deeply appreciated, even if we may not have been able to express it at the time.”
Hassam’s son, Michael Muzzerole, 29, was shot dead along with his partner, Amanda Bragg, 30, and her sister, Amy DeRosby, 28, on Nov. 4, on Belgrade Road in Oakland in the two-apartment house they shared by Herman DeRico, DeRosby’s boyfriend, who then shot himself. Muzzerole and Bragg’s daughter Arianna, who was 3 at the time, was found in the house unharmed.
The shootings shook the town.
“Things like this aren’t supposed to happen in quiet, little, rural towns like Oakland, Maine,” said Hassam, who lives in Florida.
Now that some time has passed the families of those who died are giving back to the community that helped then through the tragedy. Hassam, along with Jackie Bragg, the sisters’ mother, and Narissa Seamans, their sister, who is raising Arianna, are donating a memorial bench to be placed at the town beach near the boat landing.
Muzzerole grew up on Messalonskee Lake and he and Bragg owned a boat and spent a lot of time in the area with Arianna, as did DeRosby, Hassam said. Their home at 41 Belgrade Road is yards from the beach.
The Town Council approved the the concept of putting a bench at the beach, and the next step is to choose an exact place for it.
“We hope that the memorial bench will give the members of the community a place to share our love and remembrance for our loved ones,” Hassam wrote. The bench will be engraved with the Muzzerole, Bragg and DeRosby’s names, and a quote, which will be revealed at its dedication. The day of the dedication has yet to be announced.
The families also applied and paid for their children’s names to be added to the Maine Murder Victims’ Memorial Monument in Augusta through the organization Parents of Murdered Children, although Hassam said she is not a member. The monument will be rededicated with the additional names at 1 p.m., Sunday, June 26.
While Hassam won’t be able to attend the rededication, she said some of her family members will go. Hassam is hoping to fly to Maine for the memorial bench’s dedication.
“The world is a different place when your children no longer walk on it,” Hassam said last week. “The only positive thing that I can say about this horrific tragedy is that our two families have truly become one.”
Madeline St. Amour – 861-9239
mstamour@centralmaine.com
Twitter: @madelinestamour
