Mural honoring girl who died of cancer removed

A mural honoring the memory of 8-year-old Jaelyn Glaz was installed last October. It was removed over the weekend. Photos by Alex Dominguez

DOWNEY — A mural painted in honor of an 8-year-old girl who died from cancer has been removed, six months after it was put up in Downtown Downey.

According to Jackie Glaz, mother of Jaelyn Glaz, whom the art piece memorialized, the mural was painted over at the request of the building owner.

Contrary to rumors that spread across Facebook over the weekend, Glaz said that the building’s owner had approved the mural to be painted on the side of an office building at Downey Avenue and 4th Street but later deemed the work “unprofessional.”

The mural – depicting a dinosaur, unicorn, and the message “Today be Amazing, Brave, Strong, Be You” — was painted in October last year by street artist Bumblebee.

Jaelyn Glaz passed away June 12, 2018, a week shy of her ninth birthday.