Friends, family and community members gather Wednesday at a memorial for Amos Beede in Burlington. Photo by Kelsey Neubauer/VTDigger
BURLINGTON — In January, Amos Beede noticed Anne Heather sipping coffee alone at Panera Bread on Church Street. Beede didn’t know it, but she sat there feeling worthless after having recently become homeless, Heather recalled Wednesday.
Beede walked up to her, said hello and gave her his bagel. The two spoke for a while, Heather said. It was a small act but made her feel human again.
“He gave me more than any amount of money or jewels or anything. He gave me back a sense of meaning, a sense of worth, a sense of power that I thought I had lost,” Heather said, addressing the media after a memorial service for Beede, who died last month of injuries suffered in an attack at a homeless encampment.
More than 50 people — including the mayor, other city officials and Beede’s family — gathered Wednesday at Perkins Pier to remember him. Heather was one of many who spoke about how Beede had touched their lives. The event was hosted by the Pride Center of Vermont, an organization that promotes the health and safety of LGBTQ people in the state.
Friends mourn the death of Amos Beede at a memorial gathering at Perkins Pier in Burlington. Photo by Kelsey Neubauer/VTDigger
Beede, 38, was a transgender man, and law enforcement officers have not ruled out his gender identity as a motivator in his death. He was an active member of the LGBTQ community and well-known to people at the Pride Center.
Beede lived in Milton but was a Church Street regular with strong ties to the city’s homeless community. He would frequently stay in Burlington’s homeless encampments, according to police, especially on weekends, when there is no bus service to Milton.
That was the case the night he was killed, when he was staying with friends in an encampment in the Barge Canal area off Pine Street.
Beede attended a concert May 21 at the Flynn Center with his girlfriend, Aunnah Guzman. After the show, Beede walked her home to her apartment. He was supposed to text Guzman when he reached the campsite, but she never heard from him, according to documents filed in Chittenden County Superior Court.
Later that night four people in their 20s who were staying in a nearby camp pulled Beede from the tent where he was sleeping and attacked him savagely with a plastic crate and their feet and fists, a witness told police, according to court documents.
Police said they identified Beede’s attackers as Erik Averill, 21, Jordan Paul, 21, Myia Barber, 22, and Allison Gee, 25. The four fled the day after the attack, according to police, and were later arrested in San Diego, California. Each faces a charge of second-degree murder, which carries a sentence of 20 years to life. Police have not said when the four will be extradited to Vermont.
The attack was prompted by an escalating dispute between the two camps, according to police accounts and court documents.
Two days before he was attacked, Beede called police from the encampment to report yelling and screaming. Officers who responded reported a disturbance caused by someone urinating on one of the tents there.
Beede approached a Burlington police officer the next night to ask if he could take out a restraining order on someone he identified only as Erik — later determined to be Erik Averill, the documents show. But Beede refused to provide more information about the person unless the order could be granted immediately, according to police.
That same night, Beede also approached a different officer, saying someone in the camp was threatening to assault him. He said he did not have the person’s name but would call police if there were any issues, according to the documents.
After Beede’s death May 28, the Pride Center of Vermont and others in the community organized the memorial gathering, said Julia Berberan, a SafeSpace program coordinator at the center.
Joshua Baker, a friend of Amos Beede, shares memories at Wednesday’s gathering in Burlington. Photo by Kelsey Neubauer/VTDigger
“The murder of Amos has helped shine a light on the number of ways we are failing our communities,” said Berberan.
Beede knew many people who lived in homeless camps in Burlington, according to friends. Joshua Baker, 42, and Gavin Walendy, 18, both of Burlington, were among those he had met at the camps, Baker said. Earlier this year, Beede paid for their wedding at City Hall before a justice of the peace. He was also the only attendant, Walendy said.
Beede had a fire for bettering the lives of those around him, said Tim Farr, 29, of Burlington.
Farr said he remembers Beede helping a group of 16 people register to vote. Beede wanted to make a change and a difference in Burlington, he said.
Farr said Beede also had many ideas on how to help the LGBTQ community in Burlington.
“The spirit of Amos will always live on, and it is up to us to keep that fire that was in his heart burning forever,” he said.
At the memorial, Beede’s friends gave his mother, Barbara Beede, a card they had made. The card included many origami cranes like the ones Beede had taught friends to make.
Berberan said this will not be the last time the community gathers to remember Beede and the impact he had on those around him.
VTDigger reporter Morgan True contributed to this story.
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