Mar 11, 2005  |  By: LOU CHIBBARO J  | COMMENTS     

said. “She pulled me into local activism. She pulled in a lot of folks.”

Rev. Dyan McCray of the Unity Fellowship Church Washington knew Alston for 10 years. She described her as a gentle spirit who gave money to homeless people she encountered on the street.

“There will never be another Wanda Alston,” McCray said. “She’s always been on the front lines of social justice issues for people who didn’t have a voice.”

McCray added that she never knew Alston to have enemies.

“I pray to God that it’s not a hate crime,” she said.

McCray said she was planning to open her church at 1226 Vermont Ave. on Sat., March 19 at noon for community members to come together and remember Alston. For more information, call 202-246-6299.

Kevin Naff contributed to this report.