NEW HAVEN, Conn. (AP) – Courtney Williams didn’t wear a black dress or suit to the funeral of her 13-year-old friend, Jajuana Cole. She wore a T-shirt.

It reads “RIP Jajuana,” with a photo of the smiling teenager. It also includes her date of birth and death and the words, “We will always love you.”

“I’m showing my respect,” said the 14-year-old Williams. “That’s my homegirl.”

In New Haven, Hartford and cities across the nation, “rest in peace” shirts have become a popular symbol of grief and proper funeral attire, especially at services for victims of violence.

Cole was shot to death on June 16 while standing with friends outside her apartment building. A group of four men opened fire, allegedly aiming for a rival gang member in the crowd. Instead, police say, they hit Jajuana and two friends.

Making RIP shirts, buttons, and tags that resemble backstage concert credentials has become a good business for Rodney Matthews, who owns Exclusive Line-Z, a shop in East Hartford that makes custom shirts.

A back corner of his store is filled with sample RIP shirts, which gained notoriety in the late 1990s after rapper Master P mentioned them in the song “Is There a Heaven 4 a Gangsta.”

The shirts chronicle shootings, car crashes and other tragedies that have taken the lives of Hartford youth over the past five years.

Sorting through the RIP shirts, Matthews finds one with a picture of two young men, each wearing yet another RIP shirt.

“All three of these kids are dead,” Matthews said. “These two guys came into the store to get shirts for their friend who got killed on Albany Avenue. So they had these shirts on, and within two years both of these guys got killed.”

A shirt can cost anywhere from $10 for a simple photograph to more than $100 for something more elaborate with airbrushing and custom lettering, he said.

Many carry messages such as “Why?” or “The good die young” on the back.

Families will often buy shirts in bulk and resell them to help defray the cost of the funeral, Matthews said. In those cases, he gives immediate family members shirts for free.

Many people will wear the shirt once – to a funeral – and put it away forever, he said. Others will wear them regularly as a way to keep the victim’s memory alive.

Many families also wear the shirts to court to send a message to a judge or jury during a murder case.

Henrietta Beckman’s 20-year-old son Randy was shot to death while sitting in a car in 2002. Nobody has been charged with his murder. Her family has shirts with his picture on it to remind people of that, she said.

“It is an I-love-you-and-we-miss-you shirt,” she said.

Some people will also dress the victim’s body in a shirt with photos of friends and family on it, Matthews said.

Many people misinterpret the shirts to be some type of hip-hop fashion statement, he said. “I’ve yet to meet a kid who came in here and said, I want a rest in peace shirt cause I think they look good.’

This is about remembering,” he said. “The whole thing about a rest in peace T-shirt is to say don’t forget about this face. Because you’re never gonna see this person again alive. But If I go to the club, or I hang out in school or whatever, I want you to remember this person.”

Bishop John Selders of the Amistad United Church of Christ in Hartford said the shirts are a lot like crosses on the highway at an accident scene. They show that young people are affected by the violence.

“I think it shows that there is a valuing of life by these young people,” he said. “Certainly it’s not meant to send a message to this community. You can’t be in the city and not somehow be touched by the violence. There is no need for that message.”

AP-ES-07-01-06 1421EDT