Obituaries

How to Donate to Columbia Mall Shooting Victims

The Brianna Benlolo Memorial Fund and Tyler Johnson Memorial Fund have been established to help family, nonprofits in honor of the victims.

Two memorial funds have been set up to honor those killed in the Jan. 25 shootings at The Mall in Columbia, according to senior mall manager Ashley Venable.

Venable announced at an outdoor vigil Thursday night that the mall in conjunction with Zumiez was helping to promote the funds for Brianna Benlolo, 21, and Tyler Johnson, 25, who were killed last weekend in the Zumiez store where they worked.

Benlolo, the assistant manager at Zumiez, left behind a 2-year-old son.

"She was a really loving mother to her beautiful son," her friend Patric Centorbi said at the vigil.

To support her child, the Benlolo family created the Brianna Benlolo Memorial Fund, which will provide for the child's health care, education and support, Venable said.

People can make donations at any Wells Fargo branch by referencing the Brianna Benlolo Memorial Fund. Checks may also be mailed to the Brianna Benlolo Memorial Fund, P.O. Box 1353, Lynnwood, WA 98046.

The Johnson Family and the Community Foundation of Howard County set up the Tyler Johnson Memorial Fund, which will go to nonprofits in Johnson's honor.

Johnson volunteered at the Serenity Center in Columbia, a 12-step meeting place, where he was the youngest board member, according to his obituary. He was also a spokesman for the HC DrugFree program in Howard County.

"He tried to help everybody" and "did a lot of good for young kids" trying to recover from addictions, his friends from the Serenity Center told The Baltimore Sun.

People can mail donations to the Tyler Johnson Memorial Fund, 10630 Little Patuxent Parkway, Century Plaza, Suite 315, Columbia, MD 21044; or donate online at www.cfhoco.org/give/donate/foundation.

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