Vigil honors lives of recent murder victims

They might have never known each other, but Lauren Kahn and Adam Sarnecki were honored together by friends, family and community members.

Kahn and Sarnecki, both murdered in November, were remembered with a vigil Saturday. A crowd of about 50 people gathered on the south lawn of the Monroe County Courthouse to light candles and speak against what is seen as escalating violence in Bloomington.

“It just upset me greatly that there’s been no response about anything,” Bloomington native Kelsy Benckart said. “From murders to bank robberies, that’s not the Bloomington that I know and love.”

Benckart, Kahn’s best friend, coordinated the vigil and gave a speech to the crowd. After the speech, she said Bloomington does not feel as safe as it did when she was a child.

“Since I was a kid growing up, we used to be able to ride our bikes around the neighborhood,” Benckart said. “I own a condo in the same neighborhood I grew up in, and my daughter is 5, and there’s no way she would be allowed to ride her bike after dark.”

She said being vigilant and smart about your choices is key in combating violence for both students and community members.

Benckart also stressed the importance of community in reacting to the violence. She said Bloomington can return to a sense of community and acknowledge that everyone can play a part.

“It’s not any one section’s fault,” she said. “We’ve become isolated. People say this is a University problem, this is a county problem or this is a city problem. It’s everyone’s problem. We’re all here. And I would like to see us band together and get back to the way we used to be because it’s possible.”

Suspects for both murders, which happened at the victims’ respective workplaces, are in custody.

Michael Angle, 26, admitted to stabbing Kahn during an attempted robbery at the Garden of Eden adult video store, where she worked as a clerk. Angle turned himself in to the police on Nov. 15.

James Finney, suspected of shooting Sarnecki outside of Pizza X’s southside store, plead not guilty at his first court appearance Nov. 9. Sarnecki worked as a delivery driver and was shot after attempting to stop a man from breaking into another
employee’s car.

Benckart said she was pleased to see community members she did not know at the courthouse Saturday.

Mike Stankovic, a Bloomington resident since 1971, said he did not personally know Kahn or Sarnecki but wanted to show his support for the families.

Stankovic, who grew up in Gary, left his hometown to escape the violence he now sees in Bloomington.

“The police are doing all they can,” Stankovic said. “I wouldn’t have a policeman’s job in any city, for any reason. They have a hard time because there is so much going on here. It takes the people of the community to say, ‘Hey, I know what happened.’ We need the people to step up.”