Tales From the South Side...
Greetings from the edge of Fort Wayne's societal abyss. Time once again to delve into the wonderful world of abhorrence, ignorance, and arrogance, as we travel about this part of town, waiting for whatever trouble is lying in wait to find US.
*** And we begin this excursion into the realm with...(you guessed it)...ANOTHER homicide.
The good news is that it didn't happen in the SE part of the CITY of Fort Wayne...it just happened in the SE part of ALLEN COUNTY (right outside of the city of Fort Wayne).
(( Death 7th Homicide in County - Victim shot in head, brother told police
Holly Abrams / The Journal Gazette
The death of a woman who was found inside her home on U.S. 27 on Sunday has been ruled a homicide, according to autopsy results released Monday.
The Allen County Coroner’s Office ruled that Kasondra L. Harvey, 44, was shot to death.
Officers were called to a reported shooting just south of the city limits at 8316 U.S. 27 shortly after 11 a.m. When police arrived, they found Harvey dead inside her home.
Harvey’s shooting death has been ruled the seventh homicide in Allen County this year.
This is the first homicide this year in Allen County that is outside of Fort Wayne and the first to be investigated by Allen County police since 2007.
Allen County police are remaining tight-lipped about the case. Department spokesman Sgt.
Steve Stone said the case is being investigated as a homicide but declined to speculate about a possible motive in the slaying.
Stone said Harvey was found after a relative went to visit her home Sunday morning.
The relative called 911, he said. Stone also did not release details about how or where the shooting occurred.
According to police call logs, Harvey’s brother reported she had been shot in the head.Harvey was sentenced to prison for three theft convictions in 1988 in Allen County, according to the Indiana Department of Correction.
She was released in 1991. ))
Now I'm giving the benefit of the doubt here (wrongfully), but although my "gut" tells me the woman was black, I'll say (for the moment) that she may have been white...but I don't think so. Why, you ask? (good question).
-First, the SPELLING of the name (Kasondra) is more in tune with the phonetics displayed by many ethnics around here. I guess that's what comes with not paying attention in school. When I first heard the name, I thought "Kassandra" or "Cassandra" (the USUAL spellings).
It's an "ONDRA" thang, people...just like the "IESHA" thang..
-Second, the house is located JUST outside of the city limits, and very near the 7900 block of Decatur Road, which houses a plethora of dubious people in apartment complexes. One of the most travelled streets for the FWPD is the 7900 block of SERENITY Drive (who picks these names, knowing the type of people inhabiting the area?), where life there is anything BUT "serene".
-Third, it would not be the first time that someone living alone winds up this way, especially with a prior record. After all, one tends to "make friends" and even renew acquaintances while incarcerated. The network within becomes another network without, when someone serves their time. And maybe, just maybe those "old friends" (from cell block D) stop on by from time to time...just to keep in touch.
We're up to SEVEN homicides...and it's barely into March. At this rate, we could expect close to my "magic number" of TWENTY-FIVE for the year. That's IF things remain as they are, we don't see a spike in gang-related activity or some bad drugs deals, and I manage to restrain my "urge to purge" this part of town of all the low-life pond scum that is rapidly destroying a once nice part of the city.
Well, I don't have to worry about that LAST thing...unless they come after me first.
I won't start anything...BUT...I will finish it.
God, it's good to have PURPOSE in life, isn't it?
*** Next, as we all know, spring is JUST around the corner, as is evidenced by the last few days of NICE weather.
And, as is the state of affairs in MY part of the ghettohood (south side), that can mean only ONE thing...
Boomcars....and basketball.
Okay, TWO things. (and barking dogs) I mean THREE things. (and unsupervised kids running everywhere)
Alright, make that FOUR things...Four.
Yes, it's this time of year, when all those pent-up pests that infest the ghettohood come out of the woodwork (we should be so lucky to have carpenter ants instead) and decide to take over what little bit of life you're trying to enjoy.
The kids down the street were out back in their driveway bouncing a basketball until AFTER TEN P.M.
(well, it IS a school night, after all)
Who the hell can play basketball with only one stinking bulb over a garage (and not a floodlight of any kind)?
I mean, these kids sure as hell aren't headed to ANY NCAA or NBA team in their future...you can just tell.
And the barking dogs?
Well, oddly enough, dogs have just seemed to manifest themselves in houses that had no prior animals within them (current bipedal vermin excluded).
People around here have this quaint manner of getting a dog.
They hook up with whoever is breeding pit bulls, and have them drop off a puppy to the house.
Presto...you got's a dog.
We have TWO such houses on the block where this has happened.
Now, I'm sure that ANIMAL CONTROL would love to hear about these, as they are not licensed, and probably have no shots to speak of.
But that's how things are done down here...skirt the laws, rules, and regulations whenever possible.
Same goes for houses that have been recently condemned (for the 2nd time - like the one across the street from us).
Two men gained entry to the house yesterday (someone's got a lot of keys), and were "cleaning it out". At least, I did see brooms and didn't see any pipes leaving the place (yet), but the two "gentlemen" that were inside are not what we would call "professional" in ANY way, shape or form.
In fact, neither of these men work...or has even worked. If they did, they wouldn't be driving such a rundown truck...'ya think?
Not to mention, that they are "friends" with a KNOWN FELON living at the other end of the block (DUIs, breaking and entry, trespass...yeah, THAT kind of guy...a real, upstanding ace of a fellow, don'cha think?), so that speaks volumes as to the "character" of these two "fixer-uppers" at that condemned house.
And doesn't a condemnation on a house mean that entry is not allowed EXCEPT by (aside from the owner) QUALIFIED people who know the potential risk of injury and are LICENSED to make such an entry?
Too many questions here...and way too few answers.
Again...it's just the way things are done down here...bypass whatever laws and city codes that are in place and call it done.
Kinda makes it hard for people like US, who DO follow the laws.
Some days I wonder WTF are we thinking? Following laws? Adhering to RULES and CODES....that sh*t costs MONEY, folks!
Even if it's the proper and legal way to go...it can be a damn sight more costly to be a law-abiding citizen than a law-breaking one.
And therein lies my major beef with this city....a DOUBLE STANDARD.
TWO ways of "conducting business"...one for the upstanding citizens, and one for the riff-raff.
The GOOD people pay, and the BAD people don't.
Kinda sounds like what got this city (like any others across the nation) into financial trouble, right?
Maybe, if EVERYONE was held to the SAME standard...we could all be a lot more (dare I say it?)...EQUAL.
America has always had high standards for her people, and I personally feel it's damn time we were (again) ALL held to those exact, same standards. It's served us well in the past.
I mean, it's not like all the people who DO the right thing for the right reasons ever get any REWARDS from these cities, do we?
We certainly don't get a tax BREAK for filing timely, paying our bills, and keeping OUR property nice, right?
No...if anything, (in areas like ours) we're put upon by those on that "other" standard....looking to get anything from anyone for free.
We become the pariahs of our neighborhoods, when WE are the ones wearing the "white hats".
We need to change that...and fast, especially in tough economic times such as these.
We ALL need to start pulling our OWN weight as best we can, and not let any government do everything FOR us.
Besides, NOTHING ever comes without some kind of price tag attached to it.
No excuses anymore...these people have had their time in the sun.
America was NOT built upon the premise that the few would carry the many.
America WAS founded on the premise that everyone had value, and that everyone had the same opportunity to work for whatever they wished to obtain. And that no man had any right to deny anyone else their rights in the process.
Sounds simple enough, doesn't it?
When civility returns to our streets, then men and women will again act in a civil fashion...not before.
Those of us who already subscribe to such archaic values already know as much.
And we will live (and teach) by example.
It's not that we're any better than anyone else...we just follow better principles.
Be well, make a difference today, and...
Stay safe out there, America.