Tales From the South Side... Yes friends, another journey into that wonderful place that I LOVE to refer to as The Ghettoland Abusement Park (and discount house of worship). It never ceases to amaze me just HOW a government agency (such as HUD) can take an otherwise quaint and innocuous neighborhood, that once was filled with home OWNERS who took care of their properties, had well-behaved children, and who knew what it was to be RESPONSIBLE...AND WORKED FOR A LIVING, turn it around 180 degrees into a blighted area teetering on the brink of slumdom.
If there is ANY government waste, it would most certainly be found HERE.
When you have a better rapport with the indigenous birds, squirrels, rabbits and garden plants than with most ANY of the two-legged (sub) species that inhabit the area (on YOUR dime, I might add), that kinda says it all. But enough about all the charming NUANCES of city life in Fort Wayne, let's see what's happening around the "hood", shall we? *** On tap today, an update to an ongoing story.
Here's the link that is reprinted below: http://www.journalgazette.net/article/20110405/LOCAL07/304059942 (( Published: April 5, 2011 3:00 a.m. Murder suspect in court - Boy watched as dad slain Dominic Adams The Journal Gazette FORT WAYNE – Although witness accounts of the events that led to Friday’s shooting death of a Fort Wayne man vary, police believe it was Antjuan M. Okey who pulled the trigger and killed the man as the victim’s 10-year-old son watched. Okey, 32, of the 4900 block of Oliver Street, made his initial appearance Monday in Allen Superior Court.He is preliminarily charged with murder in connection with the death of William Earl Derrick. Okey is being held without bail at the Allen County Lockup. About 8:20 p.m. Friday, police were dispatched to a shooting and found Derrick, 30, of Fort Wayne, dead in the 5000 block of Oliver Street. Police observed Okey and another man fighting across the street, according to court documents.
After Okey was handcuffed he told police, "Dude was on me and I shot him," according to court documents.
The original 911 caller told police he was traveling north on Oliver Street when he saw three men fighting, court documents said. The caller said he saw a woman try to break up the fight and after passing the fight he saw muzzle flashes from gunshots in his rearview mirror, according to court documents. Police later learned the woman trying to break up the fight was Okey’s mom. She told police Okey was in a dispute with the other man and Derrick, but the woman declined to comment further to police without a lawyer, court documents said. Derrick’s 10-year-old son, who witnessed the shooting, told police he went to Okey’s with his father and that Okey and the other man were there, court documents said. The boy said his dad gave him the keys to start the car so they could leave and that Derrick was about to get into the started car when he got into an argument with the other man, who was holding Derrick back, court documents said. Frankye Derrick, Derrick’s mother, said her grandson is doing "OK" after witnessing the shooting. "I think it’s slowly just hitting him that his dad is dead and he’s never going to see him again," she said. "He had his son with him because he thought he was in a safe environment. He would’ve never put his son in anything like that. "He was a beautiful person," Frankye Derrick said of her son. "He liked to have fun and he enjoyed being with his family. He was like a comedian. If you weren’t feeling good, he was the one that would make you laugh. He was just a fun person, and he loved life."
The boy told police Okey swung at his father and the two started to walk in circles as if they were going to fight, according to court documents. The son saw his father punch Okey and, then, Okey pulled out a gun and shot Derrick, the son told police. Derrick ran across the street holding his chest and Okey continued to shoot at him, according to court documents. Derrick’s son got out of the car and saw his dad lying in a yard across the street, court documents said.
The other man at Okey’s home at the time told police he’d met Derrick at the barbershop earlier in the day and the two went to the liquor store, according to court documents.
The two eventually went to Okey’s house because Derrick wanted to buy a stereo amplifier. The three men were drinking alcohol and got into an argument about shots of tequila, court documents said. After calming down, the men continued to drink and another argument erupted and they went outside, the man told police. Derrick and the other man were about to leave when Okey called Derrick a name, according to court documents. The witness told police he tried to break up the fight when he saw Okey pull out a handgun from his waistband, according to court documents. Police later found a black handgun without a magazine lying on the kitchen table of a home, but the address where the gun was found was blacked out in court records. Derrick’s death is the sixth homicide in Allen County this year, all of which have occurred in Fort Wayne. Visitation for Derrick will be 5 to 7 p.m. Wednesday at Ellis Funeral Home, 1021 E. Lewis St. A Celebration of Life will be 11 a.m. Thursday at Fort Wayne Christian Center, 6901 S. Hanna St. Derrick worked for Press-Seal Gasket and is survived by his son; mother; father, G. Dennis Powell; brothers, Alonzo, Carlos, Joseph, Daniel and Fred Derrick and DeAndre Powell; sisters, Jackie Derrick and Chaminda Hill. ))
Finally, the prosecutor's office made the call.
They had until THURSDAY to decide to charge Okey with the homicide.
After all, we wouldn't want him to "just walk"...would we? Besides, isn't there that whole "former felon in possession of firearm" thing to consider, too? Now, you saw the rap sheet on Derrick (and Okey) yesterday, and although there were no entries since 2009 for Derrick, he DID have a slightly checkered past, especially when it came to DRIVING A VEHICLE...and alcohol and drug citations tossed in for good measure. Okay, so he DID have a job...that was a PLUS, but it's usually not representative of the TYPICAL lifestyle down here. I can count (excluding the Missus) on ONE hand (and several fingers missing) HOW MANY black males work on OUR block (and we've got more of them than we do cribs to house them, as they love to "shack up" with the welfare baby-mamas). Derrick was an exception to this "rule", apparently. Also, IF he had a "lifetime" suspension, WHY was he STILL DRIVING, as evidenced by having his TEN-YEAR-OLD go and "start the car" for him? AND, he was drinking and driving...with a 10-year old in the vehicle. REAL smart, right? That's very odd, don'cha think? BUT...(as is always the case) he WAS a "fun person"..gotta give him that much (as described by his family).
If by "fun" you mean LOUDER than all the rest, I could possibly agree with you there, because I happen to "know" ALL the "fun guys" in OUR part of the ghettohood (unfortunately). See, they don't give us ANY other choice THAN to notice them (when they thump that damn stereo the hell off in that God-awfully painted and graphics-laden POS complete with those 26 inch rims). You have a SON...and we used to call it HAVING PRIORITIES. Maybe if Derrick was AT HOME with his son, being a BETTER FATHER, instead of drinking with "friends" and driving when he had a lifetime suspension (which obviously was ignored very well), he'd STILL be alive today, and his son would have a much better chance of growing up with SOME level of accountability. One thing that doesn't "mix well" is men with obvious self-esteem issues...AND BOOZE (or drugs)!
If you want to talk about being CONFRONTATIONAL...THIS is the way to go, and would make for some interesting writings for those who study abhorrent social behavior. That's why it's often called "liquid courage".
When you break down the barriers of self-control (by ANY means), and you've never LEARNED what is meant by BOUNDARIES or have practiced ANY level of CIVILITY towards your fellow man, scenarios JUST like this one above are the typical result. Doesn't matter how decent a person YOU are...it can always come down to that OTHER PERSON...and you have little control over that (or him/her), except to not involve yourself with such people in the first place. Now, I sure ain't no psychologist or sociologist...I just pay the hell attention to people...and learn BOTH about them and about myself.
That's the way it should be...and has been for a long time. *** Funny thing, all you have to do is WATCH, and most all the time, the people will tell you a LOT about themselves. It's kind of neat to be able to learn by viewing...kick back and take it all in. But it works. Life is interesting in that regard...Life teaches us SO damn much...all WE have to do is pay attention.
But, how often are we distracted?
What do we place IN PLACE of that learning possibility?
And WHY do we we do it?
Granted, life DOES have it's entertaining aspects, but it also has many lessons that we can absorb and profit from as individuals. All WE have to do is discern the differences.
THAT is how we become better people than we were the previous day.
THAT is how we grow as a person....how we develop and become better able to teach others through our experiences. If we do NOT make such things an integral part of our persona, we are diminshed, and can often become a hinderance to ourselves as we journey through life. In some ways, we have allowed ourselves to become socially disabled, and Lord knows there are plenty of physical impairments to help us all along that disability path in life, especially as we grow older (and wiser, hopefully). We certainly don't need ANY more. What we DO need to remember from this, is that we always need to make the best choices we can, in order to minimize any negative repercussions. We can never be "perfect", but there is not ONE damn thing that is stopping us from wanting to ACHIEVE something better...BECOME someone better than we currently are, and not just for ourselves, but for our families and for others (so that THEY may learn from our example)...
There lies the lesson for today.
Be well, make a difference to someone, and... Stay safe out there, America.