Page 2 - Florida Sentinel 4-6-18

Feature
Activist Shocked By Businessman’s Murder
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
For the past year, Ms. Vi- vian Heyward has been a patron at an East Tampa auto detailing business. She goes every Wednesday to pa- tronize the business.
However, what took place Wednesday has left her shocked and traumatized.
The owner of the busi- ness, Unique Auto Detailing, corner of E. Lake Avenue and N. 28th Street, was shot and killed shortly before 11 a.m. Ms. Heyward knows him as David George.
She shared her story with Sentinel readers.
“I’m a member of the Pos- itive Image Committee and I met him last year when I was attempting to locate spon- sors for the upcoming “Jaz- z’n At The Ritz” event.
“He purchased two tick- ets and when I found out that he was a local businessman, I decided to patronize his business. I usually go every Wednesday around 11 a.m. This week, I was running a little late and when I got there, I saw him laying on the ground. The image of that young man laying there just traumatized me. It bothered me all night and again this (Thursday) morning. I have had to pray and ask God to remove it from my spirit.”
For 23 years, Ms. Hey- ward has hosted a Candle- light Vigil to remember the
This undated
found on Facebook shows George outside his business, Unique Auto Detailing.
lives of those lost to street vi- olence. She said she wasn’t going to do it anymore. “This iswhyIhavetogiveitup.My heart just can’t take it any- more. This senseless killing just has to stop.”
She further said George seemed to be a respectful young man and whenever she patronized his business, he always turned the music down. “I learned that he also had a mentoring program where he worked with others on the weekend. He seemed to be always willing to help others and that’s all I know about him. But, he just really didn’t deserve this.”
Police Account Of Murder
Police received 9-1-1 calls about a shooting that took
place at the business at 11:30 a.m., Wednesday. When offi- cers arrived at the scene, they discovered the victim, identi- fied as 47-year-old David M. George, had been shot. George was transported to Tampa General Hospital, where he died as a result of his injuries.
According to police, an unidentified suspect rode a bicycle to the business and shot the victim. The suspect then fled the scene and later abandoned the bicycle. The suspect remains at large.
The investigation is con- tinuing as detectives are working leads to identify the suspect and determine a mo- tive.
Sources at the scene of the shooting on Wednesday said the murder is linked to the death of Elvin “Fat- head” Joseph, who died last year. On the afternoon of June 23, 2016, Joseph, 43, also a Tampa businessman of an auto detailing shop, was outside was outside a store at 3523 N. 22nd Street. An unidentified man on a bicycle rode up, shot him, and fled the scene on the bicycle. Joseph died as a result of his injuries on March 3, 2017. His death remains an active investigation.
Anyone with information about the murder is asked to contact Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 1-800-873- TIPS or www.crimestopper- stb.com.
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National
New York Officers Kill Black Man After Mistaking Metal Pipe For Gun
NEW YORK – New York City police officers shot and killed a black man Wednes- day after he pointed what they believed was a gun at them, authorities said.
The incident comes amid a resurgence of questions about unequal treatment of people of color by police fol- lowing the police shooting in Sacramento, California, of a man who police said had a gun. Only a cell phone was found near his body.
Police say the man who was killed was carrying a sil- ver pipe.
After the fatal shooting in New York, officers discovered that their suspect had been holding "a pipe with some sort of knob on it," Chief of
Department Terence A. Monahan said at a news conference.
New York's attorney gen- eral on Wednesday morning opened an investigation into the death of Saheed Vas- sell.
The incident started shortly before 5 p.m., when officers received 911 calls of a man aiming what callers de- scribed as a silver firearm at people in Brooklyn, Mona- han said.
Four officers discharged their weapons, striking the man, Monahan said. They then gave him first aid and called for an ambulance to take him to the hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
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