The Nov. 19, 2008, stabbings of brothers Ryan and Terence Strope and a friend, Andres Yelicie, at the Stropes’ home in suburban Springfield remained a mystery until May 2011, when police arrested Delante Cook, 35, of New Carrollton, Md., at a Whole Foods grocery store where he worked.

Cook pleaded guilty to the crime, admitting that he and others had staked out the Stropes’ home for two days, believing the brothers were drug dealers who would have a large amount of cash.

Police have said the Stropes were selling marijuana, while Yelicie was simply in the wrong place at the wrong time. The attackers dressed as police officers for the robbery, and officials said the stabbings were especially brutal.

In some ways, Friday’s sentencing hearing was a formality because a plea deal called for an automatic life sentence. But the hearing give the Strope and Yelicie families an opportunity to describe the devastation they endured.

The Stropes’ sister, Lisa-Marie, recalled identifying her older brother’s body at a hospital and then witnessing the final, frantic efforts of doctors to save her younger brother as she pleaded for God to spare his life.

“I needed one of them to survive. … I wouldn’t wish this feeling on my own worst enemy, even the one sitting in this room,” she said, standing just a few feet from Cook.

The Stropes’ father, Chris Strope, a former police officer, urged Cook to cooperate with police to find the other attackers.

Only one other attacker has been identified: Jelani Slay, who was killed in 2009 attempting to rob an off-duty police officer. Authorities say the investigation is ongoing, and Cook is required to cooperate with the investigation as part of his plea deal.

“You will spend the rest of your life in prison,” Chris Strope said, looking directly at Cook. “It is my hope that each and every day you relive this crime and realize that you had a choice, and that you made a very bad one.

Yelicie’s father, Fedor Yelicie, said Andres “wasn’t perfect, but he had a great, big heart and a bright future ahead.”

Cook apologized to the families and admitted the crime was “a senseless act that should never have happened. I have committed a crime and I deserve to be punished.”

In court papers, Cook’s attorney, Lana Manitta, acknowledged Cook was legally culpable. But, Manitta wrote, Cook did not carry a weapon, was not in the home at the time of the stabbings and never intended for anyone to get hurt, although he overlooked Slay’s penchant for violence in committing crimes.

U.S. Attorney Neil MacBride said the attackers “participated in an act of almost unimaginable violence — the malicious and fatal stabbing of three men in cold blood. They showed no mercy and no regard for the lives they took.”

The convictions in federal court were on robbery and firearms charges, not murder, though Cook acknowledged his role in the killings as part of the plea.

(Copyright 2011 by The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved

Often in murder cases there is the fact of a dead body, who”s life we will no longer be able to communicate with as we once did, he or she is dead. No one on this earth can bring them back. Then their are the rumors as to why, who, what, where of street talk that sometimes never get the full attention of the police, as to who murder whom, and why. Between facts and rumors, little get solved, detectives will say they can not build a case on hearsay, they need a eye witness, people will tell detectives, I heard this or that, but don’t want to say from whom, and so murders go cold, even if  some rumors lead to facts.  Leadership, Police Chiefs and many other things have change, a lot of the unsolved cases remain on a very long list that may get little attention from those in charge of solving them but remain at front and center in the hearts and soul of the families of the murder victims.

Wardell Smith was shot multiple times blocks from his home, rumors say it was a group from Saratoga Avenue, area, who had quarrel with him days before his murder, some say the group were mostly family members who has had multiple run ins with the police before and the police know of them, but have and will not make arrest, because they don’t have enough facts despite the rumors to make a convincing case in court.   

This happens in many cases, the people on the streets, often know helpful information of what went down but will not take the stand in court or go on record, often it’s bits and pieces that can close a case if only someone steps forward, Wardell Smith, was murdered on March 3, 2004.  Why some people remain silent after so many years and take what could help solve a murder to their grave is unknown, fear?, still fearful after so many years, does it not eat at your heart to do something?.

Fact is listed in one dictionary as – A thing that has actually happened or is really true. This does not always seem to bore out in court cases today, we all have seen, so what about rumors, should police do  much more with making a case for them, or has the legal court talk lessen the case for insight into the possible facts in most rumors.  Rumor is listed in one dictionary as – General talk not based on definite knowledge. They can be very close to each other in several of the cases on this site,we believe.

It was a quite spring night, shortly after midnight when the attacked took place pass several one and two story houses on Myrtle Avenue, and ended near a pole light. Rumors/facts say the killers were several young men, some cousins, a crew who sold drugs around Newton Street, that took the life of another young man they knew and called him by his street name, Dirty.  Detectives say they need a eye witness, the known eye witnesses are those who murder Damion Mikel King, over a pity dispute with one of them, even as their so called where a bouts on the night did not matched their alibi, those on the street , say they saw or heard nothing, again rumor say someone on the street knows more, years have passed and no one has found the courage to make a case with what is known, thinking the murders will win against the prosecutors in court.

Stabbed to death in the 2800 blk. of Myrtle Avenue, NE

The case has been cold for nearly ten years, as facts and rumors have remain at a fork in the road with no movement, for too long.  Killers do not often tell on themselves, those whom our tax dollars go to, need to do more to close murder cases as most killers have learned legal ways to stay out of jail and those who know something care less until it hits at their own family or close to it.

These are just two of the many cases where there are enough rumors to make light of what may warm these so called cold cases, if detectives and prosecutors began to learn to take  more  engagement into the real word of fact as it relates to rumor and  not let the words on the street be disregarded as useless, when alibis fade, grand jury lairs go unpunished, detectives and police personnel make misstates, and failure to close cold cases when rumors often carry some real worth.

Looking at and engaging all details in cases like these can lead to an arrest and convictions, if some old ways that have not proven useful and new ones are put in action and carry out with renewed energy  and truth, there will be less victims like Wardell and Damion who lived in the same Woodridge neighborhood, knew each other, met the same fate,  have until now, remain among facts and rumors that  show little effort of being close.

Cherish Life,

Larry

D.C police found Bobby L. Jackson early in the morning of June 25, slumped over dead and unarmed in a lawn chair after being shot in the back at least seven times. Many more shell casings were scattered nearby.

More than two months after the shooting, police have no strong suspects. Nobody in the neighborhood, a tightly packed hamlet of small homes, called 911 until almost an hour after the shots were fired, law enforcement sources say, hampering efforts to make  quick arrests or gather leads. Canvassing the neighborhood has yielded little useful information.

Investigtors think someone must have seen or heard a Saturday morning shooting just feet from a two-unit brick home on a Northeast boundary street at about 1:30 a.m.  but for now, efforts to crack the case have been stymied.

That has frustrated police, who are accustomed to community assistance with homicide cases. ” the change we’ve seen in the past three years is incredible in terms of people being cooperative with investigations,” said D.C police Assistant chief Peter Newsham. ” there are very small pockets of neighborhoods where that hasn’t been the case.” Police see northeast boundary as one such place.

Citywide, homicides have fallen and arrest rates have risen in recent years. because police rely heavily on community members to solve violent crimes, many in law enforcement interviewed for this story were reluctant to openly criticize residents’ cooperation.

but some in Northeast boundary and elsewhere say police are out of touch, and they’d prefer police craft a proactive approach to crime fighting that keeps dangerous elements out. As a result, it can sometimes seem as though people discussing such issues are talking straight past each other- as they seem to be in the Jackson case.

The res-brick, barred-window building outside of which bobby Jackson died is on a grassy hillside at the corner of 60th and Eads streets NE. No one answered the door of either unit on a recent evening, though the metal gates on the front doors were unlocked and open. Neighbors waved, answered doors and spoke with a visiting reporter, but few would  attach their names to complaints about crime.

Northeast boundary sits on the Prince george’ county line on the city’s northeastern edge. residents can be seen after midnight chatting on stoops, talking in small groups and waiting for rides at Metro bus stops.

Economic change has come gradually to this enclave, which includes run-down apartment buildings but also well-tended row houses and single-family homes. A local church’s construction of a few shimmering new houses is pleasing to some who hope for more good neighbors. It’s not the city most violent neighborhood, but residents complain of prostitution, drug dealing and loud groups of drinkers after dark.

The Northeast Boundary Civic Association is an active group, attending meetings with police and calling elected representatives about  local events. But many remain wary of police, complaining that officers who knock on their doors to ask questions make them targets for retaliation.  Newsham says the investigation into Jackson’s killing has been slow because police weren’t immediately called and detectives have had trouble tracking down people who were in the area during the shooting. (Prince George’s police were called 40 minutes sooner, according to sources.)

According to law enforcement sources, many interviewed by detectives June 25 – including some in and near the building feet from where Jackson was shot – claimed not to have heard gunfire. others said the shots were inditinguishable from fireworks. Investigators doubted many of those explanations, sources said. “it’s just a shame,” said Jackson’s father, Bobby Jackson Sr., 51, of Northwest. “People inside the buildings couldn’t hear the shots? that doesn’t make sense.”

Neighbors expressed their own frustrations, Patrick Edmond, 42, said that while officers come when called, he wishes they would more aggressively monitor the street crime he says darkens Northeast boundary. “We live in a frontier environment, plain and simple,” Edmond said. “we still have drug issues, we still have prostitution issues. they can’t express a strategy to address it and for the community to respond to more favorably.”  As for not recognizing gunfire, he and other neighbors said fire-works are ever-present in the weeks before and after July 4. “You kind of become desensitized to it,” Edmond said.

D.C. Council member Yvette Alexander (D-Ward 7) said she was amazed that no one called   police after a shooting . Although she understands concerns about the perils of cooperation, she says residents must call 911, report crimes and testify in court in order for neighborhoods to become safer.

Jackson, 29 was expecting a second child, according to Bobby Jackson Sr., who said his son’s troubled childhood included dropping out of Ballou High school at 16 to work at fast-food restaurants. Jackson Jr. used PCP, did some small-time drug dealing and faced charges for misdemeanor offenses, including joy riding in stolen cars and drug possession, according to his father..

His father was in prison until Jackson Jr. was in the second grade. After his release , the relationship between mother and father  – they never married but were together for years – didn’t last.

Jackson Sr. says he tried to persuade his son to return to return to school and improve his reading skills but made little progress. Once in his 20′s, Jackson Jr. had trouble finding steady work with-out a high school diploma and turned to drug dealing to support a drug habit and his son Marquis, now 6.

Jackson’s mother, Stephanie Lyles, 53 died after being hit by a car in Southeast in March. “You could say he was dealt some bad cards,” said Jackson Sr. ‘I’m not saying he was an angel, but who is?

But he said his son didn’t seem to have any deadly enemies and didn’t deserve to die in the street, leaving him to field questions from Marquis about his daddy’s absence.

Bobby Jackson Sr. believes that in his last hours, his son went to happy hour and then was dropped off in the Eads Street area to visit friends. Investigators think he received no assistance between the shooting and his death, but they don’t know weather his life could have been saved.

The words “RIP Bob” have been written in black spray paint on the wall of the building in front of which he died. A makeshift memorial of Heineken beer bottles and stuffed animals sits nearby. Two vigils were held at the site, according to Jackson’s father,  he’d rather that friends and neighbors help police solve the case.

“They’re worrying about snitching or telling, but what happens when it happens to you?” Jackson said. “They can tell me and I’ll say something. Just tell what you heard.”

By Clarence Williams

Washington Post

9/13/2011

“It must take  a special form of madman to senselessly murder a child, the effect of which could drive a family insane,” Mr. McCabe wrote. In the book, he recalled Johnny’s baby steps,  his early uttering (:Gahgee gay!”) he would scream when he heard church bells ringing, mistaking them for the ice cream truck), how he  would shake hands with mother and father and say ” God loves you” before he went to bed. 

He recorded the ice – fishing trips, the baseball games, Johnny’s passion for fixing lawn mowers ans his love of animals. And over the next  four decades, he meticulously documented every clue he could find, no matter how tiny – a friend who saw Johnny at the Knights of Columbus dance in Tewksbury that Friday night; another who knew someone who knew someonewho might have heard something. He passed what he learned on to the police, calling them early in the morning or late at night, asking ” Anything new with the McCabe case?,” reminding them about his son, reminding them not to let Johnny be forgotten. ” Perhaps as the killers gets older and watches his children or his friends’ children grow, and as he reaches out to touch them,  he will think of our son and our loneliness and sadness,” Mr. McCabe wrote.

Then, last month, the news came: thremen, arrested in connection with the murder of John Joseph McCabve on Sept. 26, 1969.

The men were teenagers themselves at the time – tough boys, some of Johnny’s friends have told the Mccabes – but much older now, their faces weary after the passage of four decades, after years of work, marriages and divorces, stints in the military. Weary also, perhaps, from the strain of hiding a terrible secret for so long.

All three, the McCabes realized, had attended Johnny’s wake and signed the guest book laid out for mourners.

Walter Shelly, now 60, worked at a box- making plant at the time of his arrest and lived with his wife in the same green, two story frame house on Nelson street in tewksbury where he had grown up, a couple of miles from the McCables ‘ house.  Michael Ferreira, 57 was a forklift driver on medical leave from the coca – Cola plant in Lowell and was often seen by hos neighbors in Salem, N. H., walking with his wife and their dogs to a nearby pond, according to local news reports.

Allan e. Brown, 59 , a retired Air force reservist, seemed to have been “the weak link” in the chain, the police said. According to the police investigative report, he told them that Mr. Ferreira had threatened to kill him if he revealed to anyone what happened that night.  The Lowell police had long had suspicions about Mr. Shelley and Mr.Ferreira, but did not have enough evidence to arrest them. Then,  in 2009 , Mr. Ferreiramentioned a new name, Mr. Brown’s, saying he had been with him that night, according to the police.

Detective Gerry Wayne, who had been obsessed with the murder for almost a decade, was set to pursue the lead but fell ill and died of cancer in 2009. a new detective, Linda Coughlin, was assigned to the case this January. In February, she and other investigators began a series of interviews with Mr. Brown, who at first insisted that he had nothing to do with the murder.

But at some point, Detective Coughlin said, ” I think he knew that we knew he was lying.” eventually, the police said, he told them how he and two other teenagers had driven around that night in Mr. Shelley’s 1965 maroon Chevrolet Impala, drinking and planning what they would do to Johnny McCabe.

They found him hitchhiking his way home and dragged him into the car, “punched and intimidated” him and then pulled him out, pinning m to the ground struggling. A few hours later when they returned, Mr. brown told the police, Johnny was dead. The motive? Johnny, Mr. Brown told police the police, had flirted with Mr. Shelley’s girlfriend, and they wanted to “teach him a lesson.”

To the McCabes, it seemed impossible that something so mundane could cost the life of their child. “when you change his diapers and bring him through chickenpox and measles, you expect to have that baby grow up into a man, ” said Evelyn McCabe, Johnny’s mother.

In the years after Johnny’s death, killings over running shoes, sports team jackets, errant words oof sisrespect would become commonplace. bu tTewksbury, in those days, was still balancing on the edge of innocence, a time when boys ” sipped beer” and people left their doors unlocked.

For a few years the murder, the police had hopes of solving it. tey interviewed dozens of teenagers and adults. they administered polygraphs. A fingerprint pulled off the tape seemed promising,but it proved unidentifiable. rumors flourished: Johnny was murder by a motorcycle gang, by a serial killer. Drugs were involved. the killers wer imitating ” Easy Rider” or some other popular film of the time.

But gradually, the leads petered out.

Inside  the McCabes’ house in Tewksbury, Johnny’s room stayed just the way he had left it. for months, Mrs. McCabe set a place for him at the dinner table every night. In the weeks after the murder, Mr. and Mrs. McCabe and their two daughters all slep in the same bed. ” We were petrified,” Mr. McCaberecalled. the couple kept their daughters close, interrogating them whenever they did manage to leave the house: ” Where are you going?” who with?” “When are you coming back?” Each morning, Mrs. McCabe would go to Mass and then visit Johny’s grave, in winter brushing snow from the headstone. Roberta, 6 yeras old when her brother was killed, would sometimes fake illness to get out of school and go along.

” I didn’t want to leave her side because she was always upset, ” roberta recalled. debbie, then 18, had trouble concentrating in school and soon left home to get married. “It was really, really hard, “she said “There were so many unanswered questions, and there were no answers and nobody to go to. My mother would go upstairs,” she said. “She would sit on his bed. she would fold his clothes. for the longest time, she just kept everything.”

Mr. McCabe could never really settle down, shifting jobs tow or three times, up and down at night, writhing notes that he put in the family bible. sometimes he and his wife would start to blame each other: Mrs. Mccabe had not wanted Johnny to go to the dance that night; Mr. McCabe, just returned from a business trip, had overruled her. but in the end, the years of grief stregthened their bond, their daughter said.

Mr. McCabe called the Policew department so often that everyone recoginized his voice. ” Some of them must have thought I was cuckoo, “he says. Yet it washis determination – his insistence on being ” very appropriately pushy,” said district attorney gerard t. Leone Jr. of Middlesex County – that revived the investigation and kept it alive.

Capt. Jonathan C. Webb, head of the criminal investigations unit, said, ” I really think tha tif Mr. McCabe hadn”t been so dedicated in aleays reminding us about the case, it would probably be a couple of boxes in a back room. A week or so before easter – perhaps fittingly for a family who had never lsottheir strong faith – detective coughlin called the Mccabes and told them there had been developments in the case. ”It was a proud moment, just to be able to say to this man who had pushed so hard for so long, ” we finally have some answere,” ” she said.  

Now what secrets remain are likely to come out in court. Mr. Shelley and Mr. Farreira were charge with murder, Mr. Ferreira in juvenile court because he was 16 at the time of the crime.  Mr. Ferreira was also charged with perjury; he lied to a grand jury looking into the murder, the police said. Mr. Brown was charge with manslaughter. all three have pleaded not guilty. A pretrial conference is scheduled for May 26.

On April 30, Mr.Brown was arrested in Londonderry, N. H. , where he lives, and was accused of threatening to shoot his wife and himself witha .38 – caliber pistol, an affidavit filed in the case said. Mr. brown’s wife Carolyn, told the police that her husband had had violent outbursts in the past and told her his impending trial would “only end in death.”

When the McCabes heard the three men had been arrested in the murder, it was as if it was all happening again. But in recent weeks, they have felt a kind of relief. people have called and sent flowers, Friends of Johnny’s have visited, hugging the McCabes and reminiscing.

Yet when a child is murdered, there is perhaps no such thing as closure. And so Mr. McCabe keeps writing in his book, adding accounts of the visits and any new details that emerge.

“Perhaps the murderer will read this and say, “I thought it was just another punk kid that I strangled to death,”  he wrote long ago in the weeks after his son died. “it wasn’t. He was very special to us, so we have written this book about him.”  

Lowell, Mass.

Persistence of a Father Brings News in a Killing – NY Times.com 

By Erica Goode

5/7/11

 The arrest of 34- year -old Delante T Cook of New Carrollton, Maryland, in connection with the triple murder of brothers Terrence, 38, Ryan Strope,26 and friend Andres Yelicie, 26 in the brothers residents in the 5400 block of Moultrie Road in Springfield, Virginia on November 19, 2008. More arrest are expected. Lorence Babu, 24 was arrested and confess to the murder of  Rebekkah Seely, 30  at the time of his arrest on November, 24 2008, in New York, he was in possession of a cell phone that belong to Terrence Strope, there are many question to be answer in the case. The indictment alleges that Delante T. Cook , Jelani Slay,  along with

 other named and unnamed co- conspirators, committed the killings as part of a conspiracy to ” obtain as much money and drugs as possible through robbery”, conducted “physical surveillance” of the home two days before the robbery. On the night of the robbery, the men armed themselves with knives and other weapons, disguised themselves as police officers and threatened the victims with violence before stealing laptops, cell phones, marijuana and cash. Delante T. Cook nor any other conspirators have been charge with the murders, and the investigation is ongoing, according to Fairfax County police. Investigators believe the suspects may have learned that narcotics sales were occurring at the house indirectly through friends of the victims.

 Jelani Slay was shot and  killed in 2009 by an off- duty D.C. police officer in a shootout during an attempted robbery. 

On the night of the murders a numbers of males wearing black clothing with the word ‘Police and SWAT” displayed, witnesses from the scene reported observing a  light- colored or gold older-model Chevrolet blazer or Jeep with Maryland license plates near the victims ‘ home on the night of the murders a second vehicle, described as a white compact car also with Maryland license plates, was seen near the home approximately an hour before the robbery and murders occurred.

Police were called around 9:45 p.m., after a neighbor observed one of the victims, Andres Yelicie coming out of the house and asking for help, Andres was able to described the perpetrators as males, wearing black clothing with the words “Police” and “SWAT”  all three victims soon died. Police remain mum on weather other arrest are expected, but  24 year old Lorenc Babu who was capture in New York on November 24, 2008 and later pleaded guilty to first-degree, premeditated murder  murder of 30 year old Rebekah Seely, beating her with a tire iron and drowned her in a gravel pit pond, after luring the Ms. Seely from her brothers home, Ms. Seely was challenged by cerebral palsy and developmental issues. 

Buba attorney Daniel Garon said , when he asked Babu on the record ‘ I understand that your plea here may be in conjunction with some homicides that occurred in Virginia.” Babu said ” Oh, those three murders in Virginia?, Yes.’ Babu’s guilty plea in Michigan was apparently an attempt to avoid the death penalty in a triple slaying in Virginia,  Michigan does not have the death penalty.  As of now Delante T. Cook faces a maxium of 40 years in prison if convicted of the charges in his indictment.

Fairfax Times , Macomb Daily, Springfield Connection, The Washington Examiner,

The safes place for some young black men seem to be locked behind bars like animal in some multi- million dollar prison that may breed hundred of millions of dollars for corporations and little for communities.  Young victims of murder do not own the boats, the planes, the banks, or manufacture the guns that end up in their community, they pay a heavy price with their death, leaving pain sorrow, some leave kids who may end up in jail or in an early grave. If a few of these murders happen in any well to do area, there would be an uproar, huge rewards, large community meetings and yes, more progress and less cold cases, some will not agree with that and will see it as an attack on the police, our officials, or those who are well off and live where few murders take place, it can be that and more, those who pull the trigger, those who don’t speak up, those who write articles with no proven solution, we all make up the problem in some shape or form.  All of these deaths in and around the nations capitol get less results in solving then the involvement our leaders put into involvement in other countries problems, if we are involved in trying to stop killings in foreign countries, should we not be more concern with the deaths of our young people dying on the streets of our nations capitol.  We know problem drains down from those who bring in the guns, drugs, launder the  money, get wealthy off of evil ills, we see  few arrest of those who control the ills that ravage communities, we see the arrest, the dead bodies of those in pants that hang below their waist, we see courts filled with accused young murders with smooth baby faces and dress in a shirt and tie, maybe for the first time, with lawyers some knowing their guilt, some earning their life by keeping criminals on the streets, some jurors not wanting to believe that young  kids could be involved in drugs, in killing someone, and not wanting to convict.  Even if we do not bring the ills into the neigberhoods that leave blood on asphalt that wash away but bring ruin lives for families, we all should honor life more then a drug, a gun, a dollar. All of theses victims were not involved in drugs, guns, or ill cash, some were good students, had no involvement in crime, had a love for life, hopes and dreams, that were cut off by someone with a wasted mind against life. 

What’s the cure?,  that will help stop this madness that takes life before it ripens, we know the speeches, the marching, the vigils, the cries, the promises, things tried, that have not stopped the blood from running in our streets, streets in mostly areas that have high unemployment, unemployment will be around for a long time,  areas that have poor education,  poor education will be around for some time, areas that have guns and drugs that are usher in by people who don’t live in these areas will continue as long as money can be made and little effort is geared to going after those at the top, the cure has to be in the people to live beyond the mind set that they are helpless victims and live in the mind set of  being free to live with their fellow man without killing, this is alot easier said then done, the ills and strains of life with little is hard to overcome, the repeated cycle of killings, hardship, disrespect, hopelessness that breeds hate and no love for life, runs high in a few minds that bring fear to too many. With little outside help, people will have to start within their homes, blocks, communities to rid it of the ills that causes the tragics, little by little to overcome those who are pawns to murder, our government has failed in its response to communities and care less about so called undeserved areas until a election comes around.   

Crime in one area today, will be in another area tomorrow, so everyone should have real concerns. Most people in every part of their city, in their day to day travels, does it with some fear, more often then they care to admit in public, when someone gets on a elevator that they don’t know, one of them sense a bit of fear rising, when someone is walking behind you, the walk thru that under ground garage to get to your car, at the ATM machine, home alone, fear is an everyday way of living and it leads to distrusting almost everyone we come in contact with. What are we going to do about it?,  the same old things done over and over again, talk without doing much then cry when  it hits our family door, it repeats over and over, so we blame the police, the government, anyone  but won’t report any serious criminal act we know of,  some officials are as corrupt as the pants hanging thugs on the corner so some of us are loss as to who to go too. We argue back and forward about how to stop crime in truth there are few ways to stop most serious crimes without having a mind that is above the ills that breed the thoughts of evil and even harder to instill in others who grow up with seeing, hearing and speaking ills of death. 

Solutions have been echo on the poorest, most uneducated streets for years, they have fallen to the ground by some who govern by talking loud and doing little, go after those at the top, if you really want to ease crime and murder, they have shouted over and over, who’s at the top, it’s not the kids with the low hanging pants, that own the planes, that owns the boats, that runs the banks, that launder the money, that make the deals, that line the pockets of some politicians, that get drugs into the hoods,  its not the kids  that make the guns, that sell the guns, that cross state lines, make the bullets, that enter the guns, that tear bodies apart, that by pass laws,  that end up in the hood. In many cases you follow the money, when an ounce of cocaine is worth a lot more than an ounce of gold,  those at the top who have the money,  keep making millions of blood dollars that trickled down to death on our streets.

Some will say its not the drugs and guns, it’s those fools killing each other, humans  have the free will to make the right choice to kill or not to kill, to sell drugs, to use drugs. Every human has their weakness, those who take control over these weakness, survives longer. If not more young bodies will lay on our streets doing this long hot summer and years to come. Too many curb side memorials with teddy bears, flowers, and empty liquor bottles that fade and bring no closure to the weary, Donte Manning, gunned down six years ago, at the tender age of nine, while playing on his block, no arrest, Bryant Morrillo, gunned down early this year, waiting on a bus at age 16, no arrest.  Living pass twenty four for many, will not happen if we don’t learn to control ourselves, our young people,  in a way to by pass the early paths to destruction.

In life there are happy days and sad days, sometimes we wonder  what if … in the murder of former junior high school principal Brian K. Betts and the teens who went to his home, which lead to Mr. Betts death.  The arrest and conviction of  Alante Saunders, Sharif Lancaster, Joel Johnson, and Deontra Q. Gray. The young men are losing a value part of their life , but they can one day make  good contributions to their families, friends and society, if and it’s a very big if, they learn and honestly do the right things in life, will they?, will more young men and women, who are making the wrong choices in life learn from this or similar tragedies that cause so much pain and hurt to so many people, it’s hard to say.

Mankind has come very far,  walked on the moon, gotten rid of polio, for the most part, learn to fly, gain valuable knowledge with invevtions 0f  radio, TV, computer, cell, iPhone and other technology, we have built grand towers, fast trains and grown rich in many ways, yet humans seem to have gain little in their moral heart of doing unto others as you would have them do unto you. Today, lust, hate has not lessen since the days when Cain slain Abel. We can wonder what if… Mr. Betts had not contacted a young man for sex, what if… the young men had come to reason among themselves to not go, to do the right things. They did not, now they are paying a price young people should not have to face.  Most of these type of killings are done by young men, who not only ruin their lives, but carry their families through a long and hurtful time that some do not recover from.  Mothers seem to suffer the most, and seem also to believe their son or daughter could not be capable of taking part in something that leads to the death of another human being.

Young people with a vast life in front of them need to ask them self what if, before making a decision to go along with the rest of the group when they are doing something that might cause harm to someone else or even themselves. Learn to reason more, listen to your parents, they have been through things you may not know and want you to have a better life then they have, if your parents can not deal with you or you with them, find help in a family member or someone who is known to be able to help even if its a group of people, don’t say you can’t trust anyone, you can, nothing is easy, learn to trust yourself to do the right things first, that little thought in your own mine is right most of the time if you take the time to say what if, I say no to that drink I’m offered, no to that weed I’m offer, no to that ride.

  In the late sixties, soul singer James Brown had a song  titled - Don’t Be A Drop Out,  encouraging young people to stay in school, some of the lyrics were – without an education, you might as well be dead.  Today the drop out rate is very high, getting a good education should be one of the main goals in a young person life to accomplish, you will have plenty of time to hang out, party with friends, life does not stop while you are learning, use your judgement when you know it’s the best for you, if you are honest with yourself  most of the time you can make the right choices, don’t let others make bad choices for you, don’t do things that bring undo hurt and stress on you or your parents. This may be boring for some of you to read, but it’s sure better then being in the shose of the young men above. I will not bore some of you more about how it was when I went to Garnet – Patterson Junior High School,  that was a long time ago, we were some hard headed teens at times too, with less guns we used our fists and made up later, some went harder and a few went to jail too.

Some of you may think I’m preaching, well maybe I should if that will get you on the right track. You young ladies, stop hanging with wana be thugs, tell your wana be to pull his pants up, stop cussing, smoking, and keep his jewel in place, keep your legs close, stay in school and be respectful, and true. Young men, stop making babies you can’t or won’t take care of, stop destroying your brain with drugs, stop the thugging, killing, learn what it  is to be a  real man. We have a lot of youing people, and I don’t want to forget them, who are going to school, making a’s and b,s, respecting their parents, not doing drugs, or hanging in the wrong places, to you I say keep strong, keep doing what you are doing.        

Enjoy life, but not at the expense of hurting others, help people enjoy life, you will be better for it, and happier then living behind  someone bars, make the right choices, have more happy days.  

Chrish Life,

Larry

Final suspect in slaying of D.C. principal pleads guilty to lesser charges

The last of four 19 – year-0lds charged in the slaying of D.C. middle school principal Brian K. Betts pleaded guilty in Montgomery County Circuit Court on Wednesday to lesser charges, bringing prosecution of the case to a close.

Deontra Q. Gray pleaded guilty to two counts: robbery and use of a deadly weapon in a crime of violence. He is to be sentenced April 1.  With Gray’s plea, the high-profile case concludes without a trial. One of the teens has been sentenced. Trigger man Alante Saunders, who pleaded guilty to felony murder, received 40 years in prison. the others, including Gray, are expected to received less time. In Gray’s case, prosecutors say guidelines call for 16 to 27 years; Gray’s attorney says they call for six 27 years. That will be debated at the sentencing hearing.

In April, four people – three of whom were 18 at the time- went to Bett’s home inSilver Spring, prosecutors said. All four men went into the home, prosecutors said. The popular principal of Shaw Middle School at Garnet-Patterson had met Saunders on a sex chat line and invited him to his house. Gray’s attorney, Barbara Graham, had long maintained that Gray never went inside the home.  She said after court Wednesday that he also didn’t know that Saunders had a gun.

“He is owning up to what he did. He didn’t know about the gun. He didn’t go into the house. but he stole, “Graham said. “his involvement was all after the fact.”

Admission to the gun charge, she said, reflected that Gray participated in a crime in which a gun had been used. Gray received items bought with Bett’s stolen credit cards- a pair of sneakers from a shoe store and  food brought at a Giant, Graham said.

 Betts’s slaying captured national attention because of who he was: a talented middle school principal who had become a face of local school reform efforts.

Montgomery County detectives built their case through store surveillance images taken during the credit card purchases; fingerprints linked to another defendant, Sharif Lancaster, found in Bett’s house; and phone records.

 Detectives determined that Saunders hooked up with Betts on the sex chat line hours before the killings. Saunder’s intention all along was to rob him, he said in court.

Graham, Gray’s attorney, said the call was made from Gray’s house because Gray’s mother had earlier allowed Saunders to stay with them. “No good deed goes unpunished, ” Graham said.

Saunders has admitted to shooting Bett’s in an upstairs bedroom. Saunder’s attorney called it accidental.

Lancaster and the fourth defendant, Joel Johnson, have not been sentenced, according to court records.

A fifth person in the case, Lancaster’s mother, Artura Williams, pleaded guilty to charges related to the use of Bett’s stolen credit cards.

 By Dan Morse 

Washington Post Staff Writer 1/26/11

On some of the tough streets of Washington, DC and in the mist of some DC high crime areas, some perpetrator’s are saying, Who in hell does he think he is?,  man don’t worry, we will still be around, long after this dude has come and gone and another one of those attorneys will be around with that same old crap (laughing) as he high five’s his partner in crime, yeah just like the war on drugs and we still here doing drugs, more laughter, then one says, man I remember  former DC ( Anthony Williams) mayor saying: We’re the capital of the United States, so we should also be the capital of murders, and they laugh even harder. 

Those who have cold cases are  not laughing, they are wanting to know,  who is this man?, but with different reasons, they are hoping this man can and will bring more cold cases out in the open and get those who took the last breath from their, son, daughter, friend, father mother, they want to make action speak much louder then warm words that have done little for  thousands of cold cases.

So who is this man?, This man, graduated from Stanford University in 1991 and Harvard Law School in 1994, served as a law clerk and join the U.S. Attorney’s Office in 1997, he has has taught students at Howard University School of Law, conducted grand jury investigations, prosecuted cases in homicide, robbery, mail fraud, theft, narcotic distribution and has many awards and accomplishments he was   nominated to serve as United States Attorney for the District of Columbia by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the U.S. Senate on February 11.2010. He has assigned three veteran prosecutors to some of the city’s many unsolved cases to send a message that theses cases are not forgotten. He says he knows perpetrators are going to be held accountable and their day in court is going to come. His record and success so far means nothing to does who have killed and gotten away with blood on their hands, and even to some of us who have waited year after year without little or no respect from those who are suppose to get the bad guys, the killers. This is no 1971 movie this is real life, and we may find out in the coming months, lets say the next two years if this man, United States Attorney Ronald C. Machen Jr. is the real deal, shut your mouth,  I’m talking about  Attorney Ronald C. Machen, Jr.,we want him to be real successful.

Are we going to see more killers behind bars? with our homicide rates lower then the 275 for the year 1971, when our population was around 741,000.  They have the resources, the man/woman power, the computers, the DNA, veteran prosecutors, and detectives, better technology, and community input, but that’s not enough,  harden criminals  say they have heard and seen it all before, the United States thought the war in Iraq would be over in 30 days, the war on drugs would be over in a couple of decades, former chief Ramsey was going to do it, and we made him leave town, we still running our drugs, yeah, we cut back on the killings, cause we got those  who we wanted, and this new guy, he ‘s bull crap, he’ll be in another city just like the other DC attorneys who we seen come and go and we still be hustling and killing like it was in the good old days, Shaft, he was cool, I  watched that movie last night, now he could get the job done, this guy, no way, man, who’s this guy anyway?.

Some will not get it,the victims, the killers, the families, no one will until the words become real and those who have taken life are caught, quick and often enough that it makes people want to not even attempt to take a life because they know that justice will be as it should,then maybe this man or the next man will not have to ask who is this man?, they will know he’s quick and firm with justice if they commit a crime and he’s peace and love brother man, if you stay out of trouble, that would be nice won’t it.?  Welcome,  United State Attorney for the District of Columbia Ron Machen, Jr, we hope you are going to be the man?.

Jamie Byrd, Biniam Gebreyesus, Christopher Hall, Maurice, Humbles, Damion Mikel King, Donte Manning, Tita Murray, Wardell Smith, Hong Wang, Jennifer Zoch and the list goes on and on and on and on , can you dig it?, he’s a bad mother, shut your mouth. We are talking about results, can you dig it?, damn right.

Larry

Some may look at those in uniforms as outsiders, pigs, not one of us. The truth is they are us, working, raising families, and going about their business just as normal people do each and every day, when something bad or good happen to them, their families and friends rejoice in good times and suffer in pain, in bad times as we all do. We may not often take time to honor those who put their life on the line each and every day for the freedoms we have, life can and does end in death for some who work to help save lives.

Officer line of duty deaths up in 2010

A total of 160 officers from the federal and local levels died in the line of duty as of mid-day Dec. 27, an increase over the 117 killed in 2009 when those deaths reached a 50- year low, according to the National Law Enforcement Officers Memorial Fund.

Most died in traffic-related incidents. the 2010 tally does not include the death of a Georgia State Patrol trooper shot twice in the face Monday night after an attempted traffic stop and brief chase in Atlanta.

More officers, 18, were killed in Texas than in other states. the agencies with the most deaths were the California Highway Patrol and Chicago Police Department, each with five, the memorial fund reported.

Traffic deaths remained by far the leading cause of officer line of duty deaths as they has been for the past 13 years, with 73 officers killed in traffic- related incidents in 2010 compared to 51 in 2009, the organization announced.

Officers shot and killed were also up, with 59 such deaths in 2010, a spike over the 49 killed in 2009 driven in part by shootings of clusters of officers in Fresno, West Memphis, Ark., and Hoonah, Alaska, Tampa and San Juan, Puerto Rico.

A Washington Post investigation found that 511 police officers were killed by firearms in the United States from the beginning of 2000 through this past Sept. 30. The Post tracked hoe the killers got their guns.

by Mary Pat Flaherty

12/28/10

The movie -making career of one Baltimore man who made DVDs threatening police informants will be on hold while he’s behind bars.

Ronnie Thomas, also known as Rodney Thomas, Skinny Suge and Tall Viaiz, was convicted on a racketeering charge in federal court in Baltimore, federal authorities said. A jury found that Thomas was a member of the Tree Top Piru Bloods, and part of a conspiracy to rob and deal drugs. But Thomas, 36 also produced two infamous “Stop Snitching” videos, which hit the streets of Baltimore several years ago. In one video, a man says” rat poison” is the response for cooperating with authorities. Prosecutors said Thomas discussed retaliating against a store owner who refused to sell his “Stop Snitching 2″ video.

Thomas faces a maxium sentence of 20 years in prison for the RICO conspiracy. He’s due back in court in April.

-Maria Glod