Jeno Moretti was an amazing child who unfortunately took his own life on November 22, 2020 due to social media bullying and his own mental struggle.  Jenos family and friends want to be able to memorialize him while also bringing awareness to a very serious cause by creating a beautiful graffiti mural.

We have proposed the graffiti mural to keep Jenos memory alive and to bring awareness to all of the children who lost their life to suicide.  The proposal was forwarded to PENNDOT and the initial 2 locations were refused due to the locations being on "protected highways".  After the initial refusals, a 3rd location was proposed.  The last location was under the bridge, a location that is remote and will not affect any traffic or have any ill affect as far as penndot is concerned.  this location was also DENIED, PENNDOTs reasoning this time was their "right of way".  Penndot has denied other efforts we have proposed to make the bridge safer such as installing fencing.  This mural was our way of memorializing Jeno and bringing awareness to a very serious cause.  And could possibly save a life. 

Jeno was just one of thousands of children who chose suicide to end their emotional pain.  Because Jenos situation was so complex and it took almost 2 weeks to locate him, his story was very public, unfortunately that is not the case for most adolescent suicide victims.  Their stories remain untold and they became just another data point in the alarming statistics regarding mental health and adolescent suicide.  The rate of suicide among those between the ages of 10 to 24 increased nearly 60% between 2007 and 2018.  Social media played a huge part in Jenos death and has likely been a cause for other young victims whose deaths went unnoticed.  Suicide is the second leading cause of death in the world for those aged 15-24.    Less than 2 weeks before Jenos death another child from a nearby neighborhood named Lexi Lis took her own life at just 12 years old, her story went unnoticed.  These statistics do not cover the many attempts that may have taken place but went unreported or unnoticed.

The proposal included a plan to memorialize Jeno in the last location he was before making the decision he did.  We have contracted two amazing graffiti artists named Max Gonzales and Shane Pilster who are willing to donate their time to create an amazing graffiti mural to pay tribute to Jeno and would include a tribute to all suicide victims.  It would include the suicide awareness hotline number also so that if someone else walks the path that Jeno did with the intentions of taking their life, maybe they will see the mural and reach out and not become another statistic.

So many lives are lost to suicide and we want the mural to be a message to all those that are struggling that they matter, that there is help and that they can change their story and prevent another unnecessary tragedy.  The location is in a place that in its current state brings much sadness, this mural could create something beautiful for the community and for everyone who visits and will also carry an important message to anyone struggling with mental health.  #JENOMORETTI #justice4jeno