NEWARK, New Jersey In a city where the murder rate has risen 50 percent since 1998, three promising College students were murdered execution style in a playground on Saturday.
Their names: Dashon Harvey, 20, Terrance Aeriel, 18, Iofemi Hightower, 20. There was also a fourth victim who police say survived the gunshot wound to the head. Natasha Aeriel, 19 (Terrance’s older sister) is said to be in fair condition at the hospital.
An apparent robbery attempt by several assailants made the four the latest victims in this city where the murder rate has risen 50 percent since 1998.Police said three were forced to kneel against a wall and shot at close range; a fourth was wounded.
The killings bring Newark's murder total for the year to 60, and put pressure on Mayor Cory A. Booker, who campaigned last year on a promise of reducing crime.
Mayor Corey Booker
"He doesn't deserve another day, another second, while our children are at stake," Donna Jackson, president of the community-based Take Back Our Streets organization, said Monday at a news conference in front of City Hall.
"Anyone who has children in the city is in panic mode. It takes something like this for people to open up their eyes and understand that not every person killed in Newark is a drug dealer.At a news conference, Booker said it was a time for unity and "not a time to play politics and divide our city."
Killed were Terrance Aeriel, 18, Iofemi Hightower, 20, and Dashon Harvey, 20. Aeriel's 19-year-old sister, Natasha, was listed in fair condition at Newark's University Hospital after being shot in the head. She was found about 30 feet from her friends, slumped near some bleachers.
Authorities were assembling details of the crime from witnesses including Natasha Aeriel, but had not made any arrests by late Monday night.
We at VP keeps the families of the victims on our prayers!
Peace and Blessings,
Eddie Nicole
5 Vain Comments:
This is incredibly sad. Really we need to do something about crimes like this so that they don't happen again.
My children and I used to live in the projects across the street from that school, and they attended that school. I moved out with my children three years ago, but my ex-husband moved back in even though he has been mugged, robbed and beaten there. This only confirms that I made the right choice to leave Newark. The largest part of this issue is that children have no other outlet of expression, particularly of that of anger. They are not taught how to constructively use their anger in a positive way. You can be pissed-off, like I was at my ex-husband, and use that angry energy to do better for yourself. Most of these kids are never shown how to do that or even to question their position. They think that what they see is the way things are. We need to remember that children are impressionable. These crimes begin with the neglect and unsupportive environments that these children live in. I know I may get hammered for this next statement, but it's not always the parents' fault because they were children when some of them had their children. In other cases, the parents don't know how to be good to parents to their children. Parent education classes would go a long way in helping raise children with a better sense of community and accountability. Sometimes the schools are the only place these children have to go where they feel some sense of protection from the whatever worries them. I volunteered at this same school and discovered that the teachers have overcrowded classrooms and no additional support as mandated by law! I watched as these elementary school children would act out in a plea for attention that these teachers (and myself) could not provide enough of. They need to know that they matter to someone. Start there, and we may be able to prevent future crimes, especially tragic ones like this.
This is absolutely horrible. Just proves that tomorrow is not promised to any of us. On a lighter note though, that mayor is smokin' hot.
I kept reading that the homicide rate has "risen 50% since 1998" and expected their murder rate to be insane. Not that 60 is OK or a drop in the buckte, but Philly's murder rate is more than 4 times that. 4 times, and steadiliy climbing. Shit is crazy EVERYWHERE. It breaks my heart.
I did not realize Newark was so dangerous. I just moved to NJ, but I live in West New York, so it doesn't seem that bad on the surface anyway. My neighborhood is completely Spanish and they seem to stick to themselves. It's really sad and terrifying and what's even worse is that most people were thinking the suspect was more than likely black..well...we have to open our eyes and get past what the media suspects!
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