Mother marks day of slain son’s birth

The day Maria Joseph has been dreading for months is almost here.

Her slain son’s birthday.

Peter Michael Joseph was the single mother’s only child, her best friend and her inspiration. He was beaten to death in March during a drug-related robbery.

Rather than dwelling on the death, the 53-year-old petite, dark-haired, feisty woman decided to acknowledge her late son’s birthday with joy, not tears.

“I wanted to turn something ugly into something beautiful,” she said.

The young man’s body was discovered in the basement of a Spokane Valley home five weeks after he was killed. According to the Spokane County prosecutor’s office, Kory J. Bruno, 17, and Kevin D. Stevens, 19, are awaiting trial on murder charges for Peter’s death.

The former Havermale High School student would have celebrated his 20th birthday Monday.

Inspired by the book “Transcending Loss,” Maria Joseph is hosting a posthumous birthday party and has invited 200 of their closest friends, although everyone is invited.

“I always made birthdays real big,” she said.

Saturday’s celebration at Audubon Park will feature three birthday cakes, hot dogs and hundreds of red, white and blue balloons destined for the sky.

Kathy McLellan, a longtime friend, said she’s impressed with how well Joseph has coped with her grief. McLellan knows how close the mother and son were because the friends’ children hung out together.

Joseph finds her strength in spirituality and numerous friends, McLellan said.

“There are ups and downs,” McLellan said. “But she always finds a way to pick herself back up. She’s very strong.”

McLellan’s family plans to attend the party.

Maria Joseph chose Audubon Park because she and Peter lived in a home at Rockwell and Driscoll for most of her son’s life.

She recently visited the neighborhood to invite anyone who remembered Peter.

As Joseph talked about the birthday party details – messages on the cakes, radio stations on the boom boxes and where she’s going to tether all the balloons – she pointed to pictures that showed her son from 10 days old up to last Christmas.

Peter used to dress in suit coats and ties when he attended grade school in Spokane, she said. He told his mom he was practicing for his important job when he grew up.

But starting in his junior high years, drug use steered Peter away from his youthful goals.

During the last months of his life it was Oxycodone – a prescription drug commonly used by people with severe pain – that over took his life.

“He said, ‘Mom, I messed up,’ ” Joseph recalled.

Peter’s involvement with drugs apparently led to his death. The two teens charged with killing him, one of whom was his roommate, reportedly plotted to rob Peter of his drugs and money. Court records indicate that robbery attempt resulted in the homicide.

Two days before his death, Peter told his mother he wanted to go to drug rehabilitation and get a fresh start.

“He was ready,” Joseph said. “I was going to take him somewhere out of town.”

The night Peter was killed, his mom had dropped him off near the Spokane Valley home. “The last thing he said to me was, ‘Mom, I love you. You’re my beautiful rose,’ ” she said.

Maria Joseph finds solace since her son’s death in many ways – church, support groups and crying jags combined with long walks. After his death, she had Peter’s likeness tattooed on her chest.

“But his birthday is the hardest,” she said.

Other than the celebration, she isn’t sure how she’ll get through Peter’s birthday.

The only thing she knows is she won’t be going through it alone. On Saturday, she’ll be surrounded by friends and memories of her son.

“It’ll give everyone who knew Peter to celebrate him in a positive way,” she said. “It’s going to be an incredible time.”