PALERMO, N.Y. - A candlelight vigil was held Friday night at the Palermo Town Park for Erin Maxwell.
More than 100 people came out in the damp, rainy weather to pay homage to the 11-year-old. Some knew her, some did not. As each lit their candle, they shared a little of what they knew about Erin Maxwell, iIncluding Kevin Gibbs, who says his stepdaughter Vanessa, befriended Erin after seeing her dip in the school garbage for a meal.
"This all kind of started when my significant other's daughter, who came
A candlelight vigil was held Friday night at the Palermo Town Park for Erin Maxwell, the 11-year old girl murdered two weeks ago.
home one day that there's a classmate that's digging through the garbage and storing food in her desk and I said, that's not right and she ended up befriending this girl," Gibbs said. "So we initiated a case with child services. Child services said and responded back to us saying, as long as she has one square meal, it was her choice and the family's choice to live in those conditions."
Gibbs will be in Albany next week for business. He says he intends to talk with legislators about the inaction of the Oswego County Social Services.