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Father of murdered Sackville boy says dismantled memorial should be rebuilt

Larry Mills Jr. was a Grade 7 student at Marshview Middle School in Sackville in 1995, when he and his mother were murdered in their home. The violent crime shook the community and left the victims' family and friends reeling, searching for answers and meaning.

To help make sense of the tragedy, teachers and students at Larry Jr.'s middle school decided to build a memorial playground to the 12-year-old.

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His father, Larry Mills Sr., said the dedication ceremony was overwhelming.

"I was happy, sad but happy, for what the community and the people of Sackville did for my son. That meant a lot.

"Little did I know, this was going to happen."

The memorial playground was a structure with two zip lines that travelled from one platform to the other. Attached to it was a plaque, dedicating it to Larry Jr. and his mother, Mary Lou Barnes.

But the structure was dismantled at some point. Mills isn't sure when, since he wasn't notified.

Mills ended up with the plaque after the play structure was dismantled — but only by chance. Someone found it in the basement and put it aside for the family.

"It was taken downstairs among a lot of other stuff and eventually was going to get thrown out."

Mills is happy to have it, but he was never informed when the memorial was taken down. He wants the Anglophone East School District to apologize.

"It shouldn't be up to them to make decisions like this. My family, relatives, his friends, they are very upset and I want something done."

Anglophone East School district did not respond to request for an interview.

Mills carries a picture of his son with him and said he thinks of him often. Speaking through tears, Mills described what the memorial means to him.

"I don't want my son to be forgotten."

"It's still very hard, very hard, and no parent knows unless they go through it."

Donnie Steeves, who was Larry Jr.'s best friend, said they did everything together. Steeves laughed recounting the time the two boys got caught stealing a miniature army toy from the long-closed Steadman's department store.

"We thought we were going to jail."

Almost 23 years later, Steeves who now lives in Riverview, was upset to find out the equipment and the plaque were gone.

"Quite honestly, it's disgusting," he said. "I don't even know how to say how I feel about it."

Angela Varner, who also played with Larry Jr., remembered the efforts put into buying the equipment.

"We did bake sales, anything we could to raise money," she said.

"The students all came together as a family in his name and did whatever we had to to get something that would have hopefully lasted longer than it did.

"It was a fun, fun piece of equipment."

The field at the middle school still shows signs of where the zip line was, but all that remains is grass.

Varner said she heard the equipment was removed because it was no longer safe, but she doesn't know when it was dismantled. She wishes she'd been notified.

"We worked to put it there and we would all work to keep it there."

Donnie Steeves said what's done is done, and now he and Varner plan to get old friends together to come up with a new idea.

"It would be kind of nice to put something together to let him live on with us."

Whether it's a new playground or sponsoring a family, Steeves and Varner said it's time to do something to remember two people they think about often.

"He should still be here today, and he's not because someone was heartless, and his mom should still be here today."

Larry and his mother were found dead in their home in British Settlement outside Sackville. Their killer, Raymond Joseph White, pleaded guilty 16 years later to second-degree murder.