A crowd of about 80 of Aliza Sherman’s friends and family gathered near the site of the Beachwood woman’s murder to not only announce a reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of her killer, but also to keep alive her memory.
Emotions ran high the morning of April 9 as those assembled remembered Sherman, 53, near the downtown Cleveland Erieview Tower parking garage off East 12th Street where an assailant stabbed her 11 times.
“We have to raise community awareness for our beautiful friend, Aliza,” said Mary Feuer, a Beachwood resident who knew Sherman 22 years.
Sherman was in the midst of divorcing husband, Sanford, a divorce that had dragged on nearly three years. Sherman had just had a meeting with her divorce lawyer when she was attacked in the garage at about 5:30 p.m. March 24.
Police have released no further statements pertaining to the investigation.
“We’re not going to let this go,” Feuer said, her voice cracking with emotion. “We can’t sleep.
Jan Lash met Aliza Sherman 28 years ago when they took Lamaze class together. Lash considered Sherman her best friend and said Sherman called her from Cedar Road hill on the way to her final visit with her lawyer.
“Whoever did this is a monster and doesn’t have a soul,” said Lash, of Solon. “I’ll never be the same.
“I talked to her every day. It was an awful divorce. She apologized to me for being so down.”
Sherman was the mother of four, ages 28, 25, 23 and 17, and was known for her deep Jewish faith and love of animals.
“I have a lot of sadness for her children who are suffering so much,” Feuer said. Then, speaking to anyone who might know something about the murder, Feuer said, “Please step forward and do the right thing.”
Solon resident Jan Lash, who considered Aliza Sherman her best friend, is pictured in this undated photo, at right, with Sherman. Photo courtesy of Jan Lash. “She was a wonderful person,” Lisbona said. “I learned a lot from here. We all did.
“She always knew how to say thank you, to make you feel good. She was very considerate, gentle and loving.”
Lisbona said she was in Israel when she learned through text messages of her friend’s death.
“My sister lives in Washington, D.C., and when I told my sister about what happened, she knew immediately who I was talking about when I said Aliza because I talked about her so much.”
The Friends of Aliza Sherman have raised $23,000 in reward money. Crime Stoppers of Cuyahoga County Coordinator David Rutt said that money, added to the $2,000 Crime Stoppers’ reward, means someone could earn up to $25,000 for information leading to the arrest and conviction of the killer.
“They can give us a call and remain anonymous,” Rutt said.
The Crime Stoppers number is 216-252-7463.
“We just want any information,” Lash said. “Somebody knows something, or somebody will brag or talk about doing it. We just want to hear something.”
See more Beachwood news at cleveland.com/beachwood.
216-986-5862
Twitter: @JeffPiorkowski
