The weekend’s other murder occurred last night in Roaring Creek
Village. 16 year old Raheem Velasquez and he is 16 – not 15 as police
reported - was shot multiple times in a murder that his family and friends say
was a revenge killing. But who would kill a 16 year old? That is what we tried
to find out.
Keith Swift Reporting,
Today the family and close friends of Raheem Velasquez knelt in front of the
spot where he was killed last night.
Hollis Williams, Uncle of Deceased
“When I saw my young bwoy down there I couldn’t even watch him.”
Devon Smith, Friend of Deceased
“I tell my lil young bwoy to fight for his life, I told him to fight
for his life and all I felt was when he released out of my hand. I just felt
him release out of my hand and I done know he passed out. So I put my hand by
his nose and he wasn’t breathing. I put my hand at his neck to feel his
pulse and he wasn’t breathing. I knew my lil bwoy gone.”
Janet Valencia, Friend of Deceased
“He was like a brother to me. He slept at my house every night. My
mom raised Raheem. Raheem was just 16 years old.”
Raheem was killed moments after leaving his house in the Another World Area
of Roaring Creek.
Hollis Williams,
“He left from here not even half an hour when we heard four shots
bust. He took the four of them. This is the one that killed him, the one to
the chest. He got two down here and one in the back, when he turned his back
he got a shot in the back.”
Keith Swift,
“You heard the shots?”
Hollis Williams,
“We heard the shot, we heard all the shots. A next thing I want them
to know, they can’t have here like the city, my nephew was left there
over half an hour. They watched him die. They left him to die over two hours.”
The family says the motive for Raheem’s murder was an old beef between
neighbours – a dispute the family has been trying to mediate.
Hollis Williams,
“The same young boy who shot him because we know, we done the word
and everything, they had gone through a thing, his father and everybody we talked
and we reasoned but then a next thing is that they are releasing men from jail
who were there for murder and they come out and instigate man death and thing.
But I want them to know he was like a brother to me. It is a previous thing,
I don’t afraid to say it because they went through a conflict but it is
something my ma, his pa, and everybody were trying to deal with.”
Timothy Velasquez, Father of Deceased
“I just spoke to my son half an hour ago, prior to his shooting, and
I went to Camalote and told him that when I came back I was going to talk to
him again. By the time I came back my two daughters approached me and told me
that Raheem got shot wand he is dead.”
The murder has angered, outraged, and saddened this community.
Grace Williams, Aunt of Murder Victim
“This really really hurt and nephew only sixteen and he is dead. He
took him from we and we never ready for him to gone yet. I woulda never push
my hand in fire and say my nephew was a good little bwoy. Everybody goes through
a stage and they go through their thing but my lil nephew was changing because
he told us. He was changing and we saw the changes and they chanced him out
of his life. If we don’t get justice we will get it our way because they
took his life. My nephew has baby, he went left his little girl and this hurts.
Nobody knows how it feels until you experience it and it hurts. All we are looking
for is justice.”
And these family and friends say that if they don’t get justice –
they’ll take it.
Devon Smith,
“We done know who worked with our lil bwoy and the man they have to
deal with it because if they don’t deal with it, we will take it in our
own hands because it is like brother gone because he was like a brother to we
and we take him like a brother.”
Hollis Williams,
“Once 24 hours up and we nuh get no justice, we will get it done.”
Police say they have detained 23 year old Lorenzo Ho Jr. for the murder
which is interesting since he was also attacked last night. Police report finding
Ho with a chop wound to the left side of his face. Police say Ho and another
suspect have been detained pending investigation.
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