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Note on grave chafes wounds
By WILLIAM R. LEVESQUE, Times Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG -- To the family of Sherrell Crossman Brooks, shot to death 12 years ago by a jealous boyfriend, her grave site is sacred ground. Earlier this year, on one of their twice-monthly visits, they found a chilling note on the headstone from someone pledging love for Brooks. The family is certain the killer, who was released in May, left the note. Prosecutors, at the family's request, will ask a judge Wednesday to bar Danny Ward Bomar from ever visiting the grave at the Royal Palm Cemetery North in St. Petersburg. "It's like he did this to taunt us," said Sherrell Brooks' brother, Donald Brooks. "He knew we visited that grave. He knew we would find that note. It's like he hasn't done enough already to our family. It's a slap in the face." In a brief telephone interview Monday, Bomar denied visiting the grave or leaving the note. "That's the most ridiculous, absurd thing I've ever heard," he said before hanging up. "Why would I want to visit the grave?" Family members said they did not know Bomar had been released from prison until they discovered the note and began asking questions. Ms. Brooks was a 39-year-old beautician and mother of two when she was killed two days before Thanksgiving in 1990 during an argument at Bomar's St. Petersburg home. Convicted of second-degree murder, Bomar was sentenced to 22 years in prison. But he was released May 11 with time off for good behavior. He remains on 18 years of probation. Though Bomar, 48, denies visiting the grave, his attorneys said he a right to visit. The judge cannot impose new probation conditions a decade after his conviction, they said. "That was someone he knew," said Pinellas-Pasco Public Defender Bob Dillinger, whose office represents Bomar. "You don't have many problems coming from the graveyard. It's not like going to a victim's home or a school where she taught. The victim is deceased." Prosecutor Doug Ellis said a judge could order such a restriction, especially if the victim's family fears running into Bomar at the cemetery. The judge also could limit the hours of visitation, he said. Donald Brooks said his mother, Glyneas Geracia, has feared visiting the grave since the note was found, worried she will encounter her daughter's killer. "He wouldn't have shot her if he really loved her," said James Geracia, Ms. Brooks' stepfather. "We just don't want him there. He killed her. Why should he have the right to be there? We don't want him around us or her." In addition to an order barring Bomar from the grave site, the family is seeking unpaid restitution payments from Bomar to cover the estimated $6,000 in funeral costs. "This place should be private to our family," Donald Brooks said. "If my sister were alive, I know she'd fight to keep him away, too."
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