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Our Garden Of Angels
A Photo Essay by Rick Waldroup
On February 15, 1998, Amy Robinson was riding her bicycle to work when she met two of her co-workers on the street, Michael Wayne Hall and Robert Neville. Amy, a mentally challenged young woman of 19, worked at a local grocery store in Arlington, Texas. Arlington is a town of approximately 300,00 people located between Dallas and Fort Worth. The two young fellows told Amy they were going for a ride and talked Amy into putting her bicycle in the back of their pickup truck and to come along for the ride. That was the last time anyone saw Amy alive.
A few days later, Amy's body was found in a densely wooded area in far northeast Tarrant County, just outside the Fort Worth city limits. She had been shot numerous times with a 22-caliber handgun. The brutal and totally senseless murder shocked the City of Arlington and the entire Dallas-Ft. Worth metroplex. Her two co-workers were quickly arrested and confessed to police that it was just a random act of violence. They were simply looking for a thrill, or as they described it, "we were just looking for something to do." Both were found guilty at their trials and both were given the death penalty. Robert Neville was executed Februry 8, 2006 and Michael Wayne Hall is still on death row awaiting his execution.
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Amy's grandmother, Carolyn Barker, who was raising Amy at the time of the murder, later placed a single wooden cross at the scene of Amy's death as a roadside memorial. A few months later, the family of Vern Price, who was also a murder victim, came across the roadside memorial and they put a cross next to Amy's. Some time later, the family of Chad Houston, another murder victim, placed a cross at the site. Slowly, the site began to grow as word of mouth spread about the spot with "the white crosses." This was the beginning of Our Garden of Angels.
Carolyn Barker decided to start a homicide memorial park dedicated to the memories of loved ones who had been murdered. It is the first and only homicide memorial park in the United States, and quite possibly the world.. The park was officially opened in February of 2000. Crosses are placed at the park in memory of loved ones who lost their lives at the hands of others. The park quickly grew in size and private donations from corporations across the Dallas-Ft. Worth area helped with the care and maintenance of the park. Today, the park is run by President Greg Price, who also makes the memorial crosses for the park, and Vice-President Ric Nesbit. Both men have relatives that were murdered and a bond quickly developed between them and Mrs. Barker. They agreed to take over the day-to-day operation of the park. It is through their efforts and those of many volunteers that the park has become a national symbol of the victim's rights movement in the United States.
 
Starting in late 2005, through a donation from Southwest Airlines of $75,000.00, the park began a major renovation complete with bricked walking paths, custom iron work fences and gates, a continuously flowing stream and waterfall, plus major landscaping detail work was done throughout the park. Sometime later land was donated across the street from the original park to expand the park to over 4-5 acres in size. A "meditation" gazebo was built on the new land and new crosses were added as well.
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