ST PAUL, Minn. — Luminary paths lit up Langford Park in St. Paul Friday night as hundreds gathered for a vigil to remember their neighbor and friend, Michael Brasel.
"This was not a story that I could ever have imagined we would need to tell, let alone live," said an emotional Hilary Brasel, Michael's wife.
That's why neighbors, friends and community leaders gathered to show their love and support for Brasel and her family.
"This is a trauma just as much for my family as it is for them," said Brasel.
Brasel’s husband Michael was shot outside their home in the St. Anthony Park neighborhood in St. Paul Saturday, after confronting someone police say was breaking into his wife’s car. Prosecutors have charged 17-year-old Kle Swee with murder in Brasel's death. Swee is currently moving through the juvenile court system but has a preliminary hearing set for June 29, with an adult certification hearing on the calendar for July 12.
"I will be ever grateful to the helpers who’ve come when we called," said Brasel as she tried to fight back tears.
Those answered calls are helping hearts heal, as light drives out the darkness in a neighborhood finding strength among each other.
"It’s amazing; like the people who have jumped in to say, 'We love your husband and we loved everything that your family is and we just want to love on you and make sure you and your kids feel safe and loved and supported.' And I just don’t know what I would do without all of it," said Brasel.
Brasel says as she grieves, she is focusing all of her energy on raising her two boys, while the legal process in this case plays out.
A GoFundMe account has been set up to support Hilary and her family.
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