San Jose residents unite to cremate ‘Gail’

San Jose residents are rallying together to collect donations in honor of the homeless woman who was senselessly killed with a samurai sword last week.

The woman, who many knew as “Gail,” was stabbed several times and died in front of a Walgreens store on West Carlos Street on Aug. 13.

The site has since been transformed into a memorial of flowers and candles.

Police arrested 37-year-old Marquis Reynolds shortly after the woman’s death. Reynolds is scheduled to appear in court this Friday.

Stacey Bardo started up a collection with help from the Westminster Presbyterian Church that will help pay for the woman’s cremation as well as a plot. She said any excess money will be donated to InnVision homeless shelter network.

Bardo started the collection because she said she couldn’t bear the notion of “Gail” being unclaimed and cremated before scattering her ashes to the wind.

Around 200 people attended a candlelight vigil Monday night at the Walgreens parking lot on West San Carlos Street. Largely organized through Internet community forums that shared memories of the woman following her death, the vigil raised more than $1,000.

Donations can be sent to:

• Westminster Presbyterian Church, 1100 Shasta Ave., San Jose, CA 95126-1330. Checks should be made payable to the church with “Gail’s cremation” written in the memo portion.

Donations can also be made on the church’s website, or by contacting the church about “Gail’s cremation” at (408) 294-7447.