Page 19 - Florida Sentinel 9-1-15 Edition

National
Savannah State Student Fatally Shot After Altercation
Hundreds Attend Funeral Of Slain Ferguson Girl, 9
JAMYLA BOLDEN
FERGUSON, MO -- Hun- dreds gathered to remember a 9-year-old girl who was killed when shots were fired into her Ferguson home as she did homework on her mother's bed. Sobs grew audible and tis- sues were passed down the aisles as fourth-grade class- mates of Jamyla Bolden sang in front of her casket Saturday.
The shooting Aug. 18 in the St. Louis suburb also left Jamyla's 34-year-old mother wounded. After searching more than a week, authorities charged a 21-year-old O'Fal- lon man with second-degree murder and several other felonies.
The pastor at Friendly Mis- sionary Baptist Church told Jamyla's family as the funeral began that the shooting has "wounded" the whole commu- nity, region and country.
Jamyla's killing brought re- newed attention to Ferguson, where Michael Brown was fatally shot by officer Darren Wilson on Aug. 9, 2014.
Lillie Vinson, a longtime friend of Jamyla's great-aunt, said it seemed like the commu- nity worked well with the Fer- guson Police Department and its new interim chief, Andre Anderson, to try to solve the crime.
Officer Greg Casem told the gathering how he held Jamyla as she was dying and told her to "hold on."
"I watched the ambulance speed away, and I felt lost," he said, overcome with emotion. "You have touched the heart of the entire nation."
The church played a video during the service that featured St. Louis Cardinals President Bill DeWitt III asking the community to pray for Jamyla and justice. He and his wife, Ira, paid for the family's fu- neral expenses.
Family Member Of Live TV Murderer Did Not Accept Him Being Gay
SAVANNAH, GA -- No one would’ve complained if Ray Starks had taken the night off from helping coach the Miller Grove High School football team. The Wolverines could have played without freshman Jamel Starks, too.
But less than 24 hours after their son and brother was shot to death, the Starkses knew where they needed to be: the Friday night football game.
“His brother would want him to play,” Ray Starks told The Atlanta Journal-Constitu- tion late Friday afternoon.
Christopher Jamal Starks, was in the Student Union at Savannah State Uni- versity when he was shot dur- ing an altercation Thursday night, according to police. The 22-year-old died later at a local hospital.
The deadly shooting prompted an outcry about safety on college campuses, with students and parents voicing concerns on social media. With a new school year just under way, Savannah State leaders vowed to in- crease security on campus to keep students and staff safe. On Friday, those coming on campus were required to show identification.
A former football standout, Starks had a passion for music and was eager to see whether he could make it his career, his family said.
CHRISTOPHER STARKS Chris Starks had grown
up watching his father help coach the Southwest DeKalb High School football team alongside legendary coach Buck Godfrey. And when Chris was ready to play, it came easy to him, Miller Grove football coach Damien Wimes said Friday.
During his freshman year, Starks injured his knee, end- ing his football career, his fa- ther said. Chris wanted to be closer to home and transferred to SSU. He had just turned 22 on Aug. 17.
When Ray Starks got a phone call around 9 p.m. Thursday, he immediately left Lithonia and headed to Savan- nah. But an hour before he could get there, Starks got the second phone call from a de- tective telling him his son had died.
RONAKE, VA --- The family of the gunman who murdered two journalists on live TV knew he was gay, but didn’t agree with it, a relative said.
James Flanagan said the family tolerated his cousin, Vester’s sexuality, but didn’t support it.
“I don’t think too many families are cool with that, they accept that,” Flanagan said Friday from his home in Vallejo, Ca. “That ain’t the way it’s supposed to be, and when you go against the good man’s wishes...what is it? Adam and Eve, not Adam and Steve.”
Flanagan, 82, said he last talked to Vester three or four months ago, and he never spoke of feeling targeted in the workplace because of his race and sexual orientation. Flana- gan said his cousin seemed normal and didn’t appear to be unhinged.
“I’ve never seen him come out like that,” the Korean War veteran. “I never saw him blow up like that. You never really can tell what’s on a person’s mind.” The cousin said he be- lieved Vester snapped.
“I don’t think nothing like this is planned, it just hits you,” Flanagan said.
Vester Flanagan II died of a self-inflicted gunshot wound. However, court docu- ments detailing exactly what Flanagan had in a crashed rental car before he shot him- self seem to suggest he may not have intended to take his own life but, rather, evade police custody instead. According to court documents, the silver Chevrolet Sonic sedan that Flanagan was driving con- tained a wig, sunglasses, a hat and a Glock pistol with multi- ple magazines and ammuni- tion. A former journalist himself, Flanagan was also carrying an iPhone, letters,
VESTER FLANAGAN
notes, cards and a to-do list. The attack on the WDBJ7 jour- nalists appeared to be a care- fully crafted one. Flanagan had abandoned his own vehicle at the local airport and had rented a car to use during his getaway. His victims’ loca- tion—some 25 miles away from the studio at a shopping center that had not yet opened for the day—had, naturally, been pro- moted by the station.
During the attack, Flana- gan calmly filmed the horrific incident before posting it to his social media. Hours after the murders, ABC News said it re- ceived a fax from a “Bryce Williams,” detailing why he had carried out the attack.
The author of the 23-page manifesto complained of ho- mophobia and racism, claim- ing that the Charleston, S.C., church shooting was the tip- ping point, countering alleged Charleston shooter Dylann Roof’s calls for a “race war.”
On Twitter, Flanagan com- plained about his victims, Ali- son Parker, 24, and Adam Ward, 27. He accused Parker of making racist statements and expressed disbelief that she was hired by WDBJ7, where he used to work before he was fired. He said that Ward had reported him to human resources.
Racist Tweets By George
Zimmerman Spark Controversy
George Zimmerman, the man acquitted in the shooting death of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin, has appar- ently perfected the art of tough guy tweeting.
The killer-cum-Twitter troll on Thursday threatened some- one by raising the specter of Trayvon Martin’s death and insulting the slain teenager in the process.
“I’m sorry I’m a day late for your slapping,” someone tweeted at Zimmerman with a meme labeled “It’s slap-an- idiot Wednesday.”
“We all know how it ended for the last moron that hit me. Give it a whirl cupcake,” Zim- merman responded.
Zimmerman has had a vi- olent and tumultuous run since a jury found him not guilty of second-degree mur- der or manslaughter in Mar- tin’s death.. He has been arrested multiple times on a variety of violence and weapons charges. He has taken on an air of machismo hubris, stating in March that he doesn’t feel bad about killing the teen because it was part of God’s plan for him.
Driver Who Flew Confederate Flag
George Zimmerman mur- dered Trayvon Martin in San- ford, FL
In a Friday morning Tweet, Zimmerman referred to himself as “teflon.” In others, he expresses dislike for Presi- dent Barack Obama with oblique insults to the president and Mike Brown, the un- armed Ferguson teenager killed by white police officer Darren Wilson last year. Zimmerman claimed Brown and Vester Flana- gan, the man accused of killing two WDBJ reporters on air Wednesday would be Obama’s sons.
The 2012 killing of Trayvon Martin and Zim- merman’s subsequent ac- quittal sparked nation-wide protests and helped launch what is now the Black Lives
Matter movement.
A white, 18-year-old driver in Minnesota was reportedly beaten by 10 people after he al- legedly ran over a 4-year-old black child. The teen, identified only as “Ryan,” reportedly was known for flying a Confederate flag from his pickup truck be- fore the flag was burned by neighborhood kids last month.
One witness, Tamara Witherspoon, said that ten- sions probably flared because of Ryan’s notoriety for flying the flag.
“They probably wouldn’t have jumped on him if he hadn’t been, you know, provoking peo- ple around here,” she said.
Damajae Winn, 4, of Winona, Minn., was taken to the hospital for his injuries. He is expected to survive. Dama- jae’s mother said that he has a neck brace and some cuts and bruises to his face but is cur- rently out of the hospital.
Brook Schrumphf, 13, who identified herself to WDAZ as Ryan’s girlfriend, said that it was an accident. Brook said
Damajae Winn has been re- leased from the hospital.
Ryan had gotten out of his truck to check on Damajae when he was assaulted by a group of people.
Ryan suffered minor in- juries, including swelling and some bruises to his face in the alleged assault, according to CBS Minnesota, but he told the station that he was doing OK.
As for the Confederate flag controversy, Brook said it’s not about race.
Runs Over Boy, 4; Gets Beaten Up
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