CHARLOTTE — A few weeks ago, a memorial for Adrian Avery was left in shambles -- his family put the pieces back together but they’re asking why someone would vandalize the spot.
Avery took his last breath after a crash on his way home from work on his motorcycle. It happened in August of 2023 on N. Tryon, just north of Interstate 485. That’s also where his mother, Randa Avery, comes to honor and remember him.
Randa built the memorial at the site, and she visits every two weeks. But last weekend, she noticed something majorly wrong.
“They just ripped down his pictures, the obituary that was up and it was just unbelievable. I don’t understand who could have done that,” Randa told Channel 9’s Eli Brand.
Some of the gates surrounding the memorial were ripped up and bent, several flowers ripped out of the ground, lights were broken, and a picture was torn. Randa filed a police report, but she says there’s been no leads so far.
Randa says she doesn’t understand why this happened, but she knows her son didn’t deserve this.
“He wanted to make an impact on everyone around him. He wanted everybody to thrive for the best. For themselves. That’s the person he was,” Randa said.
She says she’ll never let this place go, but she’s now fearful every time she passes by that it won’t be intact.
“I hope every time I come here to his memorial that it’s still here and standing. That’s why when it was vandalized it killed a part of me,” she said.
Her goal now is to make sure her son makes an impact. She’s trying to get traffic lights and street lights added to the intersection.
“This is always going to our reminder that this is where my son had his last breath and for everybody who knew him. This is where they can come visit his memorial,” she said.
Avery died when he was riding his motorcycle and crashed into a car turning left onto Pavilion Village Drive. The driver told police she didn’t see any cars when she pulled out. No charges were filed.
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