A fundraiser is scheduled next weekend in Fort Dodge to benefit the orphaned child of a single mother who was murdered last month. Police say 22-year-old Holly Michael was sexually assaulted, tied up and left to die as her assailant set her house on fire. Michael died January 26th in an Iowa City burn unit, some 18 days after the attack.
Jim Sells is organizing the benefit, planned for February 18th. Sells says they felt obligated to put together an event like this so people in the community could offer support and help set up a trust fund for Michael’s two-year-old son, Averey Martin, who was “left behind in this whole thing.” Sells says the event at Fort Dodge’s Club Laramar will include live music and a silent auction.
Items include a full semester of free tuition at Iowa Central Community College and a basketball autographed by the U-N-I mens’ basketball team. Police are holding a suspect in the slaying — 35-year-old Sessions Harper of Fort Dodge is charged with murder, kidnapping, sexual abuse and arson.