Mother's Care for Girl Praised as Both Are Mourned

The senior pastor of Cornerstone Assembly of God in Bowie chose not to offer a spiritual explanation yesterday for how a 22-year-old woman and her 9-month-old girl could be gunned down in the middle of the Christmas season.

Instead, the Rev. Mark Lehmann stood over the cherry wood coffin containing Lisa L. Brown and little Labria N. Fogle and encouraged the hundreds of mourners gathered at the Bowie congregation to pray for healing and justice.

"The Lord cries with us today," Lehmann said. "Now is not the time to hate. It is a time to mourn. God will be faithful to bring those responsible for this to justice."

Brown and her daughter were fatally shot in a Laurel rooming house Dec. 12. No one has been arrested in the killings.

At the time she was killed, Brown had obtained a court order to protect her against Lawrence Banks, 53, a convicted murderer who was dating her mother. Banks, also known as Malik Smartaney, was released from prison in 2002 after serving a little less than10 years for killing his 17-year-old son and an acquaintance in 1991.

Brown said in her application for a peace order that Banks had become angry with her because he didn't want her mother to watch Labria. Banks was arrested Dec. 13 on a warrant charging him with a possible parole violation.

Brown worked as a waitress at Phillips Seafood in the District and at a Target store in Laurel. Friends said she often visited the Cornerstone Assembly of God, where her brother Gavin Brown serves as a pastor and youth minister.

During the service, Brown's maternal aunt Susan Robinson said, "The family really needs to pull together. Lisa was a wonderful young lady. She wanted to take care of her baby. She wanted a home, a place for her daughter to stay. . . . I just keep promising myself that she is in a better place."

Bryant Fogle, Labria's father, broke down and cried before he walked into the church. He composed himself and told the gathering that Brown was much more than the mother of his child. "She was my best friend. She worked hard to take care of our daughter. It's a shame that Labria didn't get a chance at life. I never got to see my daughter grow up."

During a video presentation, mourners saw pictures of Brown as she grew from a child to a woman. Church leaders said Brown not only was committed to providing for her child but also had learned sign language and hoped to get involved in a ministry for people with impaired hearing.

Mourners sang the church hymn "Great Is Thy Faithfulness" and the praise song "I Need You, Lord, More Than Ever Before." Some people stood and others held their hands in the air, but most members of the family remained seated and cried.

"These moments, as tragic as they may be, can be turning points for the entire family," Lehmann said. "Let this moment be a turning point."