Shoppers and checkout staff stood bemused as a flash mob of 40 people gathered in a store to pay tribute to a murder victim on her birthday.
Sarajane Hakopian, of Beaverdam, Virginia, would have turned 45 last Friday, but was allegedly killed by boyfriend Brian Mallory, 42, last month.
The flash mob celebrated the mother of two’s life at a Food Lion store in Montpelier, Virginia, by acting out a song she wrote about bananas.
‘It was really, really great,’ her daughter Molly Hakopian, who led practices, told CBS affiliate WTVR. ‘That’s all the energy mom loved in real life.’
Mallory allegedly stabbed Hakopian, who died of neck and chest injuries, on January 30. He was arrested the next day in Jacksonville, Florida.
He was convicted of robbery and abduction in 1991, jailed for 124 years but released in 2009 because much of his sentence was suspended.
Mallory left Virginia in her van hours after he killed her and her body was found by a neighbour, police told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Murder victim's birthday marked by friends with hilarious flash mob in supermarket as bemused shoppers and staff watch on
Virginia mother Sarajane Hakopian killed last month
Brian Mallory charged with murder over stabbing
Forty friends gathered for flash mob on Friday
By MARK DUELL
Last updated at 6:44 PM on 13th February 2012
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Shoppers and checkout staff stood bemused as a flash mob of 40 people gathered in a store to pay tribute to a murder victim on her birthday.
Sarajane Hakopian, of Beaverdam, Virginia, would have turned 45 last Friday, but was allegedly killed by boyfriend Brian Mallory, 42, last month.
The flash mob celebrated the mother of two’s life at a Food Lion store in Montpelier, Virginia, by acting out a song she wrote about bananas.
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Killed: Sarajane Hakopian, left, of Beaverdam, Virginia, would have turned 45 last Friday, but was allegedly killed by boyfriend Brian Mallory, 42, right, last month
Group effort: The flash mob celebrated the mother of two's life at a Food Lion store in Montpelier, Virginia, by acting out a song she wrote about bananas
‘It was really, really great,’ her daughter Molly Hakopian, who led practices, told CBS affiliate WTVR. ‘That’s all the energy mom loved in real life.’
Mallory allegedly stabbed Hakopian, who died of neck and chest injuries, on January 30. He was arrested the next day in Jacksonville, Florida.
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He was convicted of robbery and abduction in 1991, jailed for 124 years but released in 2009 because much of his sentence was suspended.
Mallory left Virginia in her van hours after he killed her and her body was found by a neighbour, police told the Richmond Times-Dispatch.
Taking part: The song included lyrics such as: 'Bananas stand up straight'; 'peel bananas, peel, peel bananas'; 'shake bananas, shake, shake bananas'
Bemused onlookers: Participants said the flash mob was what Hakopian would have wanted on her birthday - something cheerful to remember her by
‘I'll never get over this one,’ her mother Betty Savage told WTVR two weeks ago. ‘You can't get over losing a child.’
Friends said Hakopian trusted Mallory and he eventually moved in with her in the rural home she shared with her two children.
‘She will always be an inspiration to us all about how to live and enjoy life,’ her friend Allen Murray, who hosted flash mob practices, told WTVR.
Participants said the flash mob was what Hakopian would have wanted on her birthday - something cheerful to remember her by.
The song included lyrics such as: ‘Bananas stand up straight’; ‘peel bananas, peel, peel bananas’; ‘shake bananas, shake, shake bananas’.
‘This is exactly what she would have wanted us to be doing,’ friend Patricia Mayhew told WTVR. ‘Celebrating her life, and not be so sad.’
A preliminary court hearing for unemployed Mallory has been scheduled for April 20 at Hanover County Court. He is being held without bond.
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