By Kevin C. Hall



NORMAN PARK — Sorrow has been no stranger to the halls of Norman Park Elementary School this year. Death has claimed three of its students in the last nine months.

This afternoon, students and faculty at the school will remember Cheyenne Wickett, Maria Rivera and Patrick Canty Jr. during the dedication of a gazebo that will bear their names on a plaque, said Principal Keith Adams. The gazebo will sit outside the school’s cafeteria.

The 1:30 p.m. event will be held in conjunction with the school’s Earth Day celebration, Adams said, and it will include the planting of three dogwood trees, one for each of the children.

Five-year-old Wickett died July 11 after she fell from the hood of her mother’s car and was run over. She is survived by her parents, Susan Plymel Wickett and William Anthony Wickett, and other relatives. Susan Wickett was sentenced earlier this month to 330-360 days in a detention center plus 10 years probation, mental health counseling and a three-year suspension of her driver’s license after pleading guilty to involuntary manslaughter in her daughter’s death.

Eight-year-old Rivera died Oct. 11 at Egleston Children’s Hospital in Atlanta, a victim of spina bifida. She is survived by her parents, Matilde Ruiz Rivera and Ramon Rivera; two brothers; a sister; and other relatives.

Five-year-old Canty died Jan. 3 at the Medical Center of Georgia in Macon following a four-wheeler accident on Dec. 31. The Georgia State Patrol said Canty was driving the ATV when it struck a utility pole; an 8-year-old passenger was not hurt, the GSP said. Canty is survived by his parents, Pat Canty Sr. and Fawn Brown; a brother; a sister; and other relatives.