I Called Him Morgan Page #7

at Slugs' Jazz Club.

Police have arrested

Mrs. Morgan,

who is due to be arraigned

in Manhattan criminal court.

No further statements

have been issued.

We had a memorial service

over in Philadelphia.

And, uh...

And they buried him

in Philadelphia.

And that was a very sad time.

That was--that was...

the end of a beginning.

[Bennie] I cried most of

the day that day.

And I hadn't cried,

you know, in ages.

I don't remember

crying like that.

And then I was curious about

what happened to Helen.

And then I heard

that, of course,

the police had arrested her,

taken her to jail.

And I never saw her again.

[Helen] And it came down,

you know.

My kids is upset.

They don't know what to think.

They don't know what

to think, you know?

I had to go to court.

And then when we went

to jail, I sat there.

And I was just sitting there.

She was, for a while

there, I mean, she just--

it was almost like

she wished she had

shot herself instead of him.

And then trying to

get her out, trying to

get a lawyer,

all those kind of things--

it was pretty hectic.

The lawyer made

arrangements for her

to plead guilty to

second-degree manslaughter.

And I think within two

or five years' probation.

That's what she

pleaded guilty to.

[serene music playing]

She had to get permission to

leave the state of New York.

We drove down, probably

it was in 1974 or '75,

somewhere along then.

We took her down.

So she wanted to go visit.

And that was

the first time that she had

been back down there.

And she took me

to the house, the country,

I think where I was born.

She really seemed to be

visiting her childhood

when we was there.

Because she was--

you know,

you're able to walk without

shoes on when you're

in the country, you know.

And walking, and--

And she is talking about all of

the things that she remembered.

Because all she could

visit in that place

was her childhood,

because she had no other

connections to it.

And then she wound up

moving back there.

She moved down to Wilmington.

She became active

in the church.

I don't want to use

the word "religious"

because that wasn't her.

But she still had

this thing in her

about the taking of a life.

It's like she

had to help folks

from that point on.

She had to help folks.

And she did a lot of cooking

in a home for people, you know,

for the church and whatever

because they loved her cooking,

and she was traveling

with the bishop.

She moved right into

the church, and became

a celebrity in the church.

And how could I say--

she found her salvation.

[Helen] I was

over there in Rikers.

And I said, "Well,

Helen, you got to

get yourself together.

It's done.

You done put yourself

in it now.

You got to get

your mind--

you got to get yourself

together mentally

to accept what you've done."

And the lawyer came over

and talked to me.

He came to see me.

[child] Sweet grains.

[Helen] Oh, okay.

And he said that

what was going on,

he was waiting for

the right lawyer.

And--

[man] Hey, little guy.

How you doin'?

[high-pitched noise]

[Larry Thomas] And then

her grandson walked in.

So we had to

stop the conversation

at that point.

We had to stop

the conversation.

So at that point, I said,

"Can I come back and finish?"

You know, because we really

weren't finished.

And she said, "Sure."

And that was in February, 1996.

And March, 1996, she died.

[Billy] I just

couldn't believe it.

All the musicians were,

of course,

just befuddled.

Didn't know what to think.

Because they were

both together.

They were always

the people who we

related to, both of them.

[Larry Ridley] I was mad

for a long time.

You know, "How can she

do that to my brother,

Lee Morgan," you know.

"If I ever see her,

I don't know,

I'm gonna give her

a piece of my mind."

You know, I was really angry.

I went through that

for a while.

And I was always wondering,

"What am I going to do

when I finally come

in contact with her?"

And it was interesting because

I was playing at a club

called the Needle's Eye.

And this is after she

finally got out of jail

and she was released.

And she was in the club.

And I was playing there.

And she came there specifically

to see me because she--

you know, we were all

very close, you know.

And I had all this anger

that had been built up.

And when I saw her,

and the expression

on her face ,

and the vibe I got from her,

I couldn't do anything

but open my arms open.

And she came and just started

hugging me and she was crying.

And she said,

"Larry, I'm so sorry.

I'm so sorry.

I didn't mean to do it."

That's what she said to me.

And you know, like,

all of that anger

and everything just went away.

[jazz music playing]

[Paul] I was--

I was very angry.

That was my first response,

anger.

I was angry at her

for having committed this act

on somebody

I consider a friend,

and someone who

contributed so much

in his short life,

to our music.

That was my initial feeling,

one of anger.

And yet...

I had a feeling of compassion.

Because I realized that

this was the woman

who literally picked

this man up out of the gutter.

I mean literally, the gutter.

And made it possible for him

to function again as an artist,

as a human being.

[Wayne] Sometimes I am

talking to people now,

and I would say to them,

"You should have

known Lee Morgan,"

you know.

They'll see a picture of him

and say, "Who's this?"

I'll say,"His name

is Lee Morgan."

[jazz music playing]

[jazz music playing]

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