Emotional Vigil held to remember slain Norwalk resident Denise Battey

By Brian Hews

Friends, family members, and law enforcement officials attended a candlelight vigil Wednesday to remember the life of Denise Battey, a 50 year old Norwalk resident who was brutally slain while working in her beloved garden at her home on Allard Street last Friday.

Battey, who would have turned 51 this week, was remembered by her twin sister Anise as being “the kindest person on this planet.” It is believed by law enforcement investigators that she was tending to her side yard Friday when she was caught off guard, attacked, sexually assaulted and stabbed seven times by an unknown assailant.

The home Battey lived in and where the murder took place is located in a Norwalk neighborhood located just north of Imperial Highway. It is considered to be one of most established areas in Norwalk where as one neighbor told Los Cerritos Community Newspaper “everyone knows everyone else by their first names.”

Her twin sister, Anise Battey, said, “Her whole legacy was to make other people happy. That’s what she lived for. She was positive. She did not have a negative bone in her body. She didn’t even know what negativity was. And I know that everyone that’s standing here can vouch for that.”

More than 100 people attended the vigil. During the gathering, an emotion Norwalk Sheriff’s Captain Patrick Maxwell said that progress is being made in catching the killer.

“They are working the case very hard. And they do have a suspect. But at this time they aren’t releasing the name. They don’t want to compromise the investigation. They’re moving forward, even as we speak,” Maxwell said.
Several news media outlets covered the emotional vigil.

“All we want is justice in this case, no one should ever have their life ended so violently,” said one resident who lives near the crime scene who did not want to be identified.

“This has sent a shockwave throughout all of Norwalk,” the same resident said.