Some 200 motorcycles expected to join funeral procession for 2-year-old Ezekiel Harry
An estimated 200 bikers will travel to Thibodaux to escort 2-year-old Ezekiel Harry to his final resting place Saturday.
The Houma boy's body was found July 12 in a trash bin on Daspit Street, a short distance from the Houma Police Department’s headquarters. The child’s mother, Maya Jones, 28, and her boyfriend, Jermaine Robinson, 37, were booked on first-degree murder and other charges.
Jessica Trosclair, a member of the Zydeco H.O.G. Chapter, said she had to do something for the family. She contacted family members and, with their OK, called other biker groups to rally for the funeral.
Bikers are asked to arrive at Moses Baptist Church, 1032 Canal Blvd., at 9 a.m. Saturday, Trosclair said. After the service, they will follow the hearse, led by people on horseback, to Moses Baptist Cemetery on Sanders Street in Thibodaux.
"They know that it's an innocent child, and they feel that he needs some justice, so this is their way of paying their respects to lay him to rest the right way," Trosclair said. "This is called 'Ezekiel's last ride.'"
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The bikers will rev their engines in honor of Ezekiel once he is laid to rest, she said.
The response to Ezekiel's funeral has been overwhelming, Trosclair said.
"My phone still hasn't stopped ringing," she said. "I've got people calling from Texas, Lafayette, Morgan City, way on the other side of Baton Rouge. I've got people calling me from St. Mary Parish and New Orleans."
The Zydeco Harley Owners Group chapter is a nonprofit that volunteers for veterans and children. Other local biker clubs that plan to attend include the Street Survivors, South Side Maniacs, Bikers Against Child Abuse and Brothers in Blue. Motorcycle officers from the Houma Police Department and Terrebonne Sheriff's Office are already confirmed.
Trosclair said some bikers told her Ezekiel used to wave as they passed by in their neighborhood, and this is a way they can pay their respects.
She credits her friends Crystal Danos and Roy Horrigan, of the Southside Maniacs, with spreading the word as quickly as it's traveled.
Danos, a local real estate agent, said the tragedy struck close to home because of a custody battle in her own life. She said she feels bad for Ezekiel's father, who she said is facing grief while trying to raise the rest of the children.
"If we can make a difference in this guy's life," Danos said, "then let's do it."
This article originally appeared on The Courier: Funeral procession for slain Houma boy to include about 200 bikers
