Willow Banks did not live in Galesburg for very long.
But in Galesburg, she will be remembered permanently.
On what would have been Willow’s 13th birthday, the Galesburg Police Department and the Knox County State’s Attorney’s Office dedicated a memorial bench in her honor at Kiwanis Park.
The black bench is engraved with Willow’s grinning face, her name, her birth date and death date, and the words “We remember. We protect. We seek justice.”
“We must be vigilant in preventing child and domestic abuse, and we must seek justice for victims of that abuse,” said police chief Kevin Legate at the dedication ceremony. “Willow’s life was taken from us too soon, and this memorial will allow her legacy to live on.”
Local law enforcement, the Knox County State’s Attorney’s Office, and child advocacy groups gathered to remember Willow, more than five years after the child was murdered.
Knox County State’s Attorney Ashley Worby remembers January of 2021 quite clearly.
“I believe anyone in law enforcement can tell you that violent crimes skyrocketed during the pandemic,” Worby said. “January 2021 epitomizes the height of such violence and some of the darkest days this community experienced.”
Worby recalled that month started off with multiple people wounded in a New Year’s shooting. Days later, a 26-year-old woman was shot and killed while sitting in a parked car. And days after that, a 17-year-old boy was shot and killed during a burglary.
Worby said more violence was hardly fathomable. But on Jan. 24, 2021, in an apartment in the Cedar Creek public housing complex, 7-year-old Willow Banks was fatally stabbed and strangled by her mother.
At the time of Willow’s death, the family had lived in Galesburg for only a few months.
“There was so much anger, desperation, despair, and frustration at that point in time, and Willow paid the ultimate price. And since that time, many of us have lived with Willow in the back of our minds and in our hearts,” Worby said.
There was justice for Willow Banks. Hazel Ivy pleaded guilty but mentally ill to first-degree murder and is serving a 53-year prison sentence.
But Worby said the dedication of Willow’s bench was not about revisiting her death or wallowing in despair.
“We’re here to celebrate life, to remember a young child too beautiful for this life, and to let children know that we care,” Worby said.
Worby thanked Lacky Monuments for donating the bench and the city of Galesburg for giving it a home in Kiwanis Park. She said the memorial was possible because the community wanted Willow’s story to be remembered.
Engraved to the right of the grinning girl’s face on the black bench at Galesburg’s Kiwanis Park are the words: “In memory of a young life taken by violence, and in honor of all children harmed.”
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