Hershawna Rias was a 17-year-old senior at Parma High School who went missing on April 6, 2021, just seven weeks before graduation. Her family remembered her as sweet, smart, funny, outgoing and committed to helping others; she planned to become a nurse.

On the morning of April 8 a park worker found her body in a field in Martin Luther King Jr. Park in Cleveland’s Glenville neighborhood near East 107th Street and Elk Avenue. The Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner determined she died of multiple gunshot wounds.

Two people were later arrested and charged with aggravated murder: 18-year-old Esperanza Lugo of Columbus, held on $100,000 bond, and 21-year-old Dacee Fisher. Community activists, including the Imperial Women Coalition, urged action and highlighted concerns about unsolved murders of young Black women and girls in Cleveland. If anyone knew Hershawna or has information about what happened, please come forward.