CINCINNATI -- A local nonprofit is looking to pay tribute to fallen Cincinnati Police Officer Sonny Kim by creating a memorial garden in Madisonville in his honor.
Steve Rock, who founded Sidestreams Foundation Inc. in 2011, has helped kick-start hundreds of garden projects throughout the community where Kim spent the bulk of his career. The latest effort would transform a long-vacant lot -- one situated just blocks away from where the officer was shot and killed in 2015 -- into a more fruitful endeavor.
How exactly the garden will take shape, and what kind of tribute it will pay, is still a work in progress, but Rock hopes to start visible work early next year.
"To be honest, I am a tiny bit appalled that we don't have any kind of monument (in Madisonville) for Mr. Kim yet, a place," Rock said. "So we thought it would be great to do something like that. If the community wants it -- if the family supports it -- I would be delighted to make that happen."
The proposed site, a vacant lot at 6200 Desmond cornering Chapman Street and St. Anthony Parish, has sat empty for years, he said. Sidestreams purchased it from the Hamilton County Land Bank for $1,000 earlier this year.
In its application, the group said it plans to "create a memorial garden for Sonny Kim, a fallen police officer who was a friend of Madisonville."
Indeed, Kim was well-liked and well-known in the community. The decorated 27-year veteran of the police force was killed June 19, 2015, near the intersection of Whetsel Avenue and Roe Street, shot in the line of duty by 21-year-old TrePierre Hummons. Months later, Hamilton County Prosecutor Joe Deters called it an ambush.
Hummons, distraught because his girlfriend had filed rape charges against him the night before, lured police to the neighborhood, calling 911 twice, saying there was a man "walking around, getting belligerent with a gun."
Kim responded. He was talking with Hummons’ mother when Hummons stepped around her and fired three shots, the fatal one penetrating his protective vest. Hummons was killed in an ensuing shootout.
"It was an awful, awful day," Rock said.
He said the Kim family is aware of the garden efforts. At a minimum, he hopes for their OK.
Rock does have a concept in mind but has also been seeking neighborhood input. Sidestreams held a meeting in late August with surrounding property owners, the first time Rock publicly aired the idea for the garden. He wants it to have a food element -- an orchard, since magnolia trees already dot the exterior, or edible flowers, or more. The nod to Kim could include a plaque or other marker.
"We want their ideas," he said. "We're still trying to figure out, what kind of garden do we want to put here? Will it have a gazebo with some pathways and perennial cut flowers? Is it more of a structured garden? Or is it a community garden, where people grow their own vegetables? Those are all suggestions we've had."
So far, Sidestreams, through its 500 Gardens program, has built or rehabbed more than 475 garden beds as part of its mission to "create fresh food projects alongside people living in food desert communities." Its most visible effort is a 54-plant raised bed garden market/outdoor classroom used by students at Lighthouse Community School.
"The (food desert) definition works for Madisonville," he said. "There are a lot of places to buy food around here -- none of which carry fresh produce, except for us."
He hopes to finalize the memorial garden design by the end of the year and plant by spring. Sidestreams said the Lighthouse School and Saint Anthony's have committed to maintain the garden.
At Lighthouse, in particular, Kim was a comforting presence, Lighthouse
School superintendent Daniel Trujillo said. The school caters to youth in the child welfare system; officers are called there on occasion, he said, but Kim had a way of defusing most any situation. Trujillo called him a role model.
"Generally, he could figure stuff out so nobody had to go with him when he left. That's huge," Trujillo said. "He could sort things out. He was that kind of guy.
"We just thought he should have a place. Not just that he was killed here. But he was part of the Madisonville community."
