Woman killed in daylight Boston park stabbing remembered

Balloons and candles were left at the park in Boston's South End where a 65-year-old woman was stabbed to death this weekend in broad daylight.

Celia Simmons was stabbed multiple times at Ramsay Park Saturday and later died at the hospital, Boston police said. There was no word on any arrests or a possible motive for the early afternoon violence as of Monday evening.

"We spent a lot of time down here in this park before they tore it apart. We used to sit on the bleachers and eat rotisserie chicken," laughed Nichole Powell, who says she met Simmons while living in a shelter. "She didn't even know me. She just saw tears in my eyes and she came to comfort a complete stranger."

Powell said her friend didn't deserve what happened to her.

"She's a good person. She's a decent lady. I don't know what happened to her and I don't know why anyone that was down here would not have tried to assist her," Powell said.

Tony Richards Sr., who runs a basketball program at the playground for 500 kids in the summer, said some people who'd frequented Mass. and Cass have moved over to Ramsay Park, and parents are afraid what might happen if they bring their children over.

"A lot of that activity, that drug activity, has been pushed over into this neighborhood park, and [there] just needs to be more attention given to the park and what it was designed to serve," Richards said.