Page 13 - Florida Sentinel 1-12-16 Edition

Local
Americans Died Violently In 2015
More Than 40 African
BY IRIS B. HOLTON Sentinel City Editor
During the year 2015, law enforcement launched inves- tigations into a record num- ber of violent deaths in Hillsborough County. In some instances, the Hillsbor- ough County State Attorney’s Office elected not to file charges.
The City of Tampa and Hillsborough County Sher- iff’s Office both listed 33 deaths classified as homi- cides. Temple Terrace Police Department and Plant City Police Department each in- vestigated one violent death.
A total of 45 African Americans lost their lives to acts of violence, including 5 African American women, all of which have been ruled as murders.
Some of the deaths have been ruled as justifiable homicides and others have been sent to the Hillsbor- ough County State Attorney’s Office to determine if charges will be filed.
January
According to statistics, 9 violent deaths took place. In 6 of those cases, African American males were the victims.
On January 5th, Life Coleman, 18, and 51-year- old James Strouse died. Both cases remain open.
James Bradford was killed on Jan-
uary 14th. Po-
lice arrested
Aveon Yarbor- ough in con- nection with the case.
JAMES The Hills- BRADFORD
borough
County State
Attorney’s Office elected not to file charges in the death of 43-year-old Christopher Reddick. Reddick died on January 17th.
The death of LeTar- rence Goggins, 24, re- mains unsolved. He died of gunshot wounds on January 19th.
The murder of Lloyd Travonte Gordon, 20, took place on January 22nd. The investigation remains ongoing.
February
During the month of Feb- ruary, Tampa Police investi- gated four violent deaths. Three of those deaths in- volved African Americans.
Reginald Atwell High-
tower, 28, was killed on February 8th. His death re- mains an open investigation.
Keith Dukes was charged with the murder of his wife, Michelle Dukes, 34, on February 12th.
Gregory Moran, Jr.,
39, was charged with the
murder of his father, Gre-
gory James Walker, 60,
that took place on February
19th.
The 14 violent deaths that took place in March were the most in a single month last year. A total of 6 African American males died.
The death of Anton Fisher, 35,
took place on
March 2nd.
No one has been charged with the death of 32-year-old Travis Ware. The case was ruled justifiable homicide.
May
During the month of May, police investigated the deaths of two Black men. Vancol Robie, 23, died on May 15th and 14-year-old Ed- ward Harris was killed on killed on May 31st. Both of those cases remain active in- vestigations.
June
During the month, police investigated four violent deaths.
Orin Edwardo Bivens,
48, was charged with the murder of Alfred Lester that took place on June 2nd.
The death
of Marcus DARNS Jordan, 46, WATKINS whose body
was found in front of his Palm River home, remains open.
Ms. Sharon Darns Watkins, 58, died after shots were fired into her home on June 27th. No ar- rests have been made in the case.
On the same day, Kirk Chang, 40, was murdered. Both of the murders which were not related, remain on- going investigations.
July
During the month of July, three Blacks died at the hands of violence.
Paul L. Wright, 30, was charged with
second-de-
gree murder
in the death
of Michael
Richard-
son, 24, of
Plant City.
The murder MICHAEL took place on RICHARDSON July 5th.
Police charged 19-year- old Keith Lamayne Gail- lard. Gaillard with the murders of 25-year-old Samuel “India” Clarke, on July 21st and Tyrone Sean Davis, 46, that took place five days later.
August
While there were no months in which an African American didn’t die a violent death, there was only one in August.
Police said Eldrid Mar-
tin, 28, died of gunshot wounds. His death, that took place on August 22nd, re- mains under investigation.
September
September 6th was partic- ularly violent in Hillsbor- ough County. Five people died at the hands of violence on that date.
Landon Owens, 31, died on September 1st. The investigation remains open.
Four people died on Sep- tember 6th.
Kyra Cuadrado was charged in
connection
with the
November
The lives of two African American women were claimed during the month of November.
The murder of Ms. Erica Gaffney,
The Hillsbor- ough County State Attor- ney’s Office declined to file charges in his death.
death of 18- year-old Eion Gusti- tis. His body was found on the roadway in New Tampa.
EION GUSTITIS
Kendrick and charged him with the murder of 78-year- old Loretta Jackson. Her body was discovered inside her East Tampa home on November 16th.
Detectives are continuing the investigation into the death of Maurice Garrett, 29, that took place on No- vember 20th.
December
During the month of De- cember, police investigated five violent deaths.
Ricardo McCalop, Jr.,
26, died on December 9th. Police
investigated the death of John Pratt, 24, on Decem- ber 18th.
Vleet JOHNPRATT Watts, 61,
died on De-
cember 20th. Watts was shot on December 11th while wait- ing for a bus.
No arrests have been made in any of those cases and the investigation is con- tinuing.
A warrant for first-degree murder was issued for Kaliyah Ronell-Marquee Everett, 17, in connection with the shooting death of 19-year-old Tysaiah Don- aldson. The murder took place on December 30th.
Toddler Kent Hawkins Johnson, Jr., 1, died on December 31st, after being a victim of child abuse. His fa- ther, Kent Hawkins John- son, Sr., was charged with his murder.
Anyone with information can contact the Tampa Police Department at (813) 231- 6130; the Hillsborough County Sheriff’s Office at (813) 247-8200; or Crime Stoppers of Tampa Bay at 1- 800-873-TIPS.
Anyone contacting Crime Stoppers can remain anony- mous and may be eligible for a reward of up to $3,000.
March
37, that took place on No- vember 7th remains an active inves- tigation.
Tampa Police ar- rested Jonathan
ERICA GAFFNEY
The next
violent death involving an African American took place on March 7th, when Michael Estenfil, 32, and Kelvin Spencer, 36, allegedly shot each other. Estenfil died from his injuries. The case was referred to the Hillsbor- ough County State Attorney’s Office.
On March 14th, police in- vestigated the deaths of 2 16- year-olds. The death of Ikeim Boswell was ruled accidental. Police continue to obtain information about the shooting death of Jamylin Turner, who was playing basketball at the time of his murder.
Richard Newton be- came the youngest homicide victim of the year, at the age of 14, when he was killed on March 21st. Police issued a warrant for Joseph Hug- gins, 23, on October 16th for the murder.
Bryant Murray, 44, was shot and killed on March 22nd. No arrests have been made in the case.
April
Three Blacks were among the death investigations by police in April.
Ms. Denise Cogman,
60, was killed on April 6th. James Ware, 56, was charged with her murder.
Two days later, police in- vestigated the shooting of 23-year-old Jarrod Coach- man. Tydarrious Kirk- land was charged with the murder after Coachman died on April 15th.
The death Fasion, 32, open investi- gation. He died on Octo- ber 4th.
ANTON FISHER
SHARON
Police charged Ran- dolph Graham in connec- tion with the death of Elkino Watkins.
Quinton Knight, 52, was arrested and charged with manslaughter in the death of Jess Emerson, II. The two became involved in a physical altercation that re- sulted in the death.
On the same date, Ivan Parker, II, 25, died after being shot several times. His death remains an open in- vestigation.
October
There were 5 deaths in October last year in which African Americans were the victims.
of Jermaine remains an
Sheldon
Fullwood
was charged
with second-
degree mur-
der after he
allegedly shot
into a crowd of people. Je- remy Williams, 25, was wounded and died on Octo- ber 17th.
No charges have been
filed in the deaths of 49-
year-old Gary Hicks, who
died on October 18th, or
Charles Lee Freeman,
30, that occurred on October 24th.
Darryl Williams was charged with first-degree murder in the death of Ms. Tiffany Charmaine James, 35, on October 31st.
JERMAINE FASION
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