Maine State Police are investigating the hit-and-run dying of a South Portland lady who was well-known for curating wellness retreats for Black youth.
In a information launch, police confirmed Monday that Nicole Mokeme, 35, was struck by a automobile on the campus of the Schoodic Training and Analysis Heart between late Saturday and early Sunday, CBS Information reported. The Heart is positioned at Acadia Nationwide Park.
Per Press Herald, Shannon Moss, spokesperson for the Maine Division of Public Security stated that the seek for the hit-and-run automobile was nonetheless in pursuit as of Monday evening. The automobile is described as a 2016 black BMW X3 SUV with Maine license plates and is registered to Raymond Lester of Portland, police stated. The BMW could have injury to its entrance finish or underside.
Police are asking for the general public’s assist in finding the automobile.
Featured by the Portland Press Herald in 2020 as a “Mainer to be Grateful For,” Mokeme supplied retreats and applications that fostered integration of management, wellness, and innovation because the artistic director of the Rise and Shine Youth Retreat. She based the retreat in 2014 to “create a various group of teenage ladies who courageously have fun themselves and compassionately assist each other,” per the group’s web site.
When the hit-and-run occurred, Mokeme was reportedly on the Schoodic Institute the place she helped arrange this previous weekend’s Black Excellence Retreat 2022. The occasion was held as a second collaboration with the Institute and was described as “a getaway for Black of us and their associates and households of all backgrounds to hitch collectively in group to have fun Juneteenth, liberation, and Black excellence,” based on a submit on the retreat’s Instagram.
From June 14 to June 20, the retreat supplied a myriad of out of doors actions for adults and youth to relaxation, discover, and rejuvenate. Mokeme partnered with the Racial Fairness and Justice Group and different activists in making certain a profitable week.
“She was all the time planning the subsequent factor on tips on how to convey group collectively to heal and construct,” stated Desiree Vargas, co-founder and co-director of the Racial Fairness and Justice Group. “She was a light-weight to all people.”
Moreover, different family and friends members have spoken dearly about Mokeme as they mourned her on-line.
“My coronary heart is devastated and unhappy. We misplaced an incredible girl and a lovely soul, my niece Nicole Mokeme to a hit-and-run driver. Could her soul relaxation in peace,” her uncle, Emeka Mokeme, wrote in a message posted on Fb.
“As a member of the Inexperienced Memorial AME Zion Church, Nicole’s presence and spirit was profound. If one ever had an opportunity to interact Nicole one left her presence each impressed and impacted,” Pastor Kenneth I. Lewis of the Inexperienced Memorial AME Zion Church in Portland wrote in a separate submit on Fb.
