top of page
%201.png)
"An honorable man. A family man. A working man. A community man. An honest man that was at a grocery store in a parking lot."
Heyward Patterson, 67
"An honorable man. A family man. A working man. A community man. An honest man that was at a grocery store in a parking lot."
Deacon Heyward Patterson was shot while inside his truck in the parking lot of the supermarket as he waited for a person he drove to Tops to pick up groceries, friends and relatives said. Patterson's family described him as a loving person, who left behind a wife and daughter. "He didn't deserve that. Our community didn't deserve that. No one deserves that. It’s wrong,” Mercedes Patterson told ABC Buffalo affiliate station WKBW, describing her relative as “an honorable man. A family man. A working man. A community man. An honest man that was at a grocery store in a parking lot."
Patterson was a deacon at the State Tabernacle Church of God in Christ in Buffalo. He would often drive people to Tops to do their shopping and was doing just that on the day he was killed.
Following his funeral, his wife, Tirzah Patterson, stood next to her and her husband's only son, Jake, and spoke to news reporters. "This is his only son, who will carry on his name," Tirzah Patterson said. "And everyday I have to pray and do a check in with him to make sure he's not mentally all over the place. His heart is broken. As a mother, what am I supposed to do to help him get through this? I need a village to help me raise and be here for my son."
Share this Story
%204.png)
%203.png)
%207.png)
%2010.png)
%202.png)
%209.png)
%205.png)
%206.png)
Remember. Reflect.
Stay Involved.
Get updates on remembrance events, community progress, and ways to support as we continue forward together.
bottom of page