‘Shine like Mora’: Hundreds light candles at Boise vigil to remember young girl
Mora Gerety was an 8-year-old Boise girl who loved being part of a team.
The Washington Elementary School student was a faithful friend, according to those who knew her, and she loved her family dearly.
“We hold Mora in our hearts each day,” a speaker and friend of the Gerety family said during a community vigil Saturday evening in the North End. “For those of you didn’t know her before, now you do, and Mora would have loved to be your friend.”
Hundreds of community members gathered at the intersection of Harrison Boulevard and Ada Street, where Mora was fatally struck by a pickup truck on Tuesday, to remember her as a friend, student, daughter and teammate.
Mora was trying to cross Harrison Boulevard just after 4:30 p.m. Tuesday. Police said the pickup and the girl both were headed west on Ada Street when they stopped at the intersection. The truck was trying to turn right onto Harrison when it hit the girl, who was taken to St. Luke’s in Boise, where she died a couple of hours later.
A large tree that sits right next to the intersection is now adorned with flowers, ribbons, cards and photographs of Mora, and on Saturday night many children gathered around it to draw hearts and messages in chalk to the girl.
Tea lights were placed along a path across the street “for Mora to have a safe passage home,” one speaker said.
The Ada County Highway District closed a couple of blocks around the intersection to ensure community safety for the large vigil.
After a moment of silence, hundreds of people embarked on a remembrance walk to Elm Grove Park, where tables were set up with cards to write messages to Mora and make friendship bracelets. Just after dark, people passed candles to one another in the park, and a friend of the family shared a few words on behalf of the Geretys.
The family wrote in a statement that it wanted “to extend our gratitude for the outpouring of love and support you’ve shown our family this week. We have felt your love for Mora, and the support from our community has meant a lot to us.”
Speakers and family friends said that Mora was an active girl who loved to be part of a team. She participated in basketball, football, mountain biking, skiing, soccer and swimming. Many children in attendance were dressed in their sports attire and jerseys to honor her.
“More than just the activities she loved, Mora was oh-so kind to each person she encountered,” one speaker told the crowd. “She was a faithful friend, and her close friends were fortunate to experience the wild and very silly side of her that came out when they were all together.”
She encouraged people to “shine like Mora” — smiling at a stranger, laughing often, loving your family and friends fiercely, and screaming “’K-Pop Demon Hunters’ in your car with your friends.”
A website has been created to share details on ways community members can honor Mora’s memory. It says that instead of flowers, the Gerety family encourages contributions to two Boise organizations, The Children’s School and TRICA Preschool of the Arts in Boise, which established the Mora Gerety Scholarship Fund.
This story was originally published November 15, 2025 at 10:34 PM.
