South Bureau Homicide Page #5

---

two years ago, three years ago.

And then take it a step

further, a case gets solved,

well guess what happens now?

Now you're bringing the

district attorney's office

into, another entity

into this case.

There's only so

many hours in a day,

but the fact of the matter is,

you get 100% from these guys.

We need to get to those,

those those voices

that you know you

are havin' right now,

about your kids,

and somebody's kids,

we need to get to those.

'Cause we don't have them often,

and lord knows,

payin' their salaries,

ya'll need to get

to them, right now.

You here me, get to

them right now, please.

How I came involved in the

criminal gang homicide division

is, there was a situation

with me, and perhaps,

impacting not only the

hearts of the men and women

in uniform, but also

those in the community.

When we talking about

what we need to do,

is we need to go home

and tell our kids to

knock it the f-off with

all this, gang bangin'.

Now it's a lot going on,

but this gang bangin' stuff

is takin' away a lot

a young talented kids.

It's been four years now,

and they need to start seein'

the faces of women like me,

'cause I can't get over it.

I get up every day and

do what I have to do,

but I miss my son

every single day.

July 18th, 2009, 6:30

on the dot that morning.

Knock on the door, and

I'm thinking to myself,

my son has lost the key again,

now I gotta get

up and let him in.

And I told him, this is your

last, this is your third key.

Unbeknownst to me, I look

out the door, screen door,

and there's two detectives

with two notebook binders,

thick, well I'm a seasoned

law enforcement officer,

I know what this is.

This is not good.

They got a job to do,

we have a job to do.

They got all these murders

that's out here and unsolved

'cause people not steppin' up,

'cause they know they stickin'

to the codes of the streets.

Until that change, they gonna

always have a stack a murders,

so why are we sittin' here,

beatin' around the bush?

They can't solve 'em

unless the people help 'em.

That's right.

- Bottom line.

When he told

me, and said look,

"Do you have a son

named Amire Brown?"

I said, "Yes, I do."

"Do you know he was at

a party last night?"

I says, "No, he's 21, he's

entitled to go to a party."

I says, "Is there a problem?"

He says, "Well, Stinson

I hate to tell you,

"but your son was shot,

and he didn't make it."

My life has never been the same.

If our kids are

bein' murdered for

steppin' up and talking,

they don't feel protected.

So they're caught in a squeeze.

My son was dead before

he could even testify

to what happened.

When I see a young black

man walkin' down the street,

he's afraid, that he's not

gonna make it to the corner.

This has to stop.

My son being clean-shaven,

6-3, weighed 240,

ran the 4.4 the 40, football

player, very healthy lookin'.

Was tying his shoe,

and looked up,

two young men, gang members,

without provocation,

the shooter produced

the weapon, a handgun,

and shot my son three times.

I felt

like he was so quick

to label gangs that,

I'm gonna just put it out there,

the white aren't in here, in

the hood, talking to people.

The people that actually

work in the community

are not from the community.

How do you know what

we're goin' through?

How do you know what

we feel, or anything?

You guys don't live here.

This doesn't happen

in a lot of communities.

You're not gonna get criminal

gang homicide detectives

to come and talk in a

community meeting like this.

When Stinson stands

up to a group of people,

and when he can tell, and

share that commonality of,

"I've suffered a loss,

my child was gunned down,

"gang violence, in the

same neighborhood."

When he throws that

down on the table,

people really listen to him.

They know he's not

just some cop up there,

feedin' 'em some bullshit.

When my son was murdered,

these are the men that helped

apprehend the suspect,

and the person's

serving prison time now.

So, they have a very

dear place in my heart.

It was not real to me until,

on the table,

covered up with a white cloth,

I remember touchin' my son

from the top of his head

to the bottom of his feet,

and feeling his cold body

the stiffness that had set in,

and realized that the

life that I had known,

that I was responsible for

procreating into this earth,

now had moved on.

And, as a parent, nothing

will leave you as helpless,

and as meek and

broken, as that moment.

As you all know, my

son Jerrell was murdered,

and the detective right

here, Rick Gordon,

he was the one who

worked with that case,

and brought it to where

the guy was convicted.

75 years to life...

he stayed in touch

with our family,

and then I stayed in

touch with them as well.

I didn't sit back and wait.

For three years I

had to go to court,

and when it got turned

over to the DA's office,

what they talk about, the

murder book looks like,

is this fat.

If I could add

somethin' on that,

it was so important for you to

be there every day in trial,

because the jury has

to see the family,

they gotta see that

somebody cares.

And that is so critical.

When it came down to

workin' criminal gang

homicide division,

when it came to bein' a

gang intervention liaison,

when it was posed to me,

it took me a year.

To answer that call.

I had to turn down

the volume of life,

to hear the whisper of God.

And when i heard

that whisper, I knew

that this is where

I needed to be

for the remaining of my

years on this department.

This is where I needed

to put my best practices,

because forgiveness

is a process,

it doesn't happen over night.

Healing is a process, it

doesn't happen overnight.

Many of us have lost

somebody close to us,

and for me personally

it's not about the badge

and uniform at the

end of the day.

When I sit at that table

it's about sharing,

and understanding that

we all have been hurt,

some of us still hurt

more than others,

but if we could say

something to one another,

to encourage one another,

to say hey, you know what,

all hope is not lost,

we don't have to go

through life being bitter.

Forgiveness is powerful,

unconditional love is powerful.

The violent crime,

it stops with us.

We thank you oh God

for the information,

and the beautiful dialogue

that took place this evening.

We thank you for every

heart, mind, and spirit

that has been present.

We thank you oh God for those

who have traveled so far

to be with us this evening.

We pray oh God that as

we separate ourselves

to go to our separate homes,

we leave each other physically

but not spiritually.

We pray oh God that the

families that we return to

shall be whole, they

shall be at peace.

We pray this in your name,

oh God, Jesus Christ, amen.

Amen.

Okay, we

need you to put up the chairs,

but not the tables.

You

gonna put 'em up then.

No, I

ain't puttin' up nothing.

As a matter a fact, I'll

Rate this script:0.0 / 0 votes