Erica Holton | Loved ones gather to honor mother, friend, cancer survivor, poet who died Monday in Cary

RALEIGH, N.C. (WTVD) — Friends and fellow poets gathered Wednesday evening to celebrate the life of 54-year-old Erica Holton, who was one of three people who died Monday in home in Cary in an act of gun violence.

Holton was a mainstay at City Soul Open Mic, a regular at the front door and on stage every Wednesday night at Terminal 8 in Raleigh.

Hoping to help her “rest in poetry,” many people who felt Holton’s influence gathered to share memories and honor her life.

“She was easy to talk to, she was a cuddler, she was the answer when she wasn’t there, like having a mother figure when she wasn’t there,” Joseph Churchwell said of Holton at an open mic Wednesday night.

When she took to the stage, Churchwell stated that she was smart, her words carried and she always spoke the truth.

“As a two-time cancer survivor, as a survivor, as a warrior, as a lover, as a mother and as a friend,” Churchwell said how he hopes Holton will be remembered. “I hope she will be remembered as someone who never stopped giving, and who would be the last to give back to anyone in the room.”

Many poets paid tribute to her during Wednesday night’s event, and it is clear that her life and legacy will continue to be honored every Wednesday night at Raleigh’s Terminal 8 as her memory lives on in the minds of all who knew and loved her.