FREE VOLUME 24 NUMBER 15
JUNE 2, 2018
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Hundreds of friends, teachers and teammates joined family members to grieve and console each other at a candlelight vigil that filled an entire cul-de-sac in Trevon Richardson’s Ellenwood community on May 30. Photos by Travis Hudgons.
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Freddie Richardson holds a banner of his son, Trevon, while surrounded by family members and his wife, Nicole, during the candlelight vigil.
Cedar Grove High community mourns loss of football, track star Trevon Richardson among four metro Atlanta teens dead after the school year ends
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By Travis Hudgons and Valerie Morgan
ozens of balloons were released as a South DeKalb County community gathered to remember 18-year-old Trevon Richardson. Hundreds of friends, teachers and teammates joined Richardson’s family members at a candlelight vigil that filled an entire cul-de-sac in Richardson’s Ellenwood community on May 30. Richardson, a football and track standout at Cedar Grove High School, graduated on May 24. Four days later, on Memorial Day, DeKalb Police found Richardson’s body lying in the parking lot of The Life
at Peppertree Circle Apartments in Decatur around 9 p.m. Police arrested 18-year-old Detavion McDay on May 31 and charged him with murder in connection with his Trevon’s death, according to DeKalb police spokeswoman Shiera Campbell. Trevon’s parents, Freddie and Nicole Richardson, struggled to express their grief. In less than a week, they went from celebrating the high school graduation of their youngest son to mourning his tragic death. Trevon was set to attend Valdosta State University in the fall “Every time there’s a graduation, someone gets killed or goes to jail,” Freddie Richardson said. “My body is numb—it hasn’t
registered yet,” Trevon’s mother said. “It didn’t have to be that way.” Four teens have been killed as a result of gun violence since the school year ended in May. Joshua Torrance, who was a star athlete on the fencing team at The B.E.S.T. Academy in Atlanta, was shot in the back on May 27, three days after graduating. He was reportedly walking away from an argument when he was killed in the 2400 block of MLK Jr. in the apartment complex where he lived. Torrance was set to attend Albany State University. In the city of South Fulton, 16-year-old Grant Antonio Payton and 19-year-old Tyree Johnson were shot to death, and a 15-year-old male
suffered a gunshot wound to his face. He survived. There has been an outpouring of condolences for Trevon Richardson on social media with those who knew Trevon using the hashtag #LLT (Long Live Trey). “He was a great kid,” said Cedar Grove Head Football Coach Jermaine Smith, while speaking about Trevon’s personality. “A comedian. He always had a joke—always tried to put a smile on others face.” “He didn’t want to hurt anyone. All he wanted to be was happy,” said former teammate Justin Shaffer. “My last time talking to him was Saturday and I told him be safe—I love you, bro.”
Deaths of two held at Rockdale County Jail sparks protest Activists demand removal of jail overseer, accountability from Sheriff Eric Levett, county commissioners
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By Valerie J. Morgan ommunity activists are uniting to hold a march on June 9 to demand justice for Shali Tilson and Jamie K. Henry. Tilson, 22, and Henry, 40, died while in the custody of the Rockdale County Jail. The deaths occurred less than three months apart. “Clearly something is going on in this jail that the citizens of Rockdale County should be alarmed and concerned about,” said Attorney Mawuli Davis, who is representing the families of Tilson and Henry. Davis, who held a news conference outside of the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office on May 31, called the deaths “criminal neglect.” ilson died of complications from severe dehydration caused by blood clots that formed in his lungs during the nine days he was locked up on misdemeanor charges. Tilson died on March 12. Davis said Henry, who had a drug problem, died on May 26 after crying out and begging for help to no avail. Henry was found unresponsive in her cell after being locked up for about 12 hours, according to Sheriff’s spokesperson Yolande LovingoodMoore. The Douglasville woman
A news conference to address the deaths of Shali Tilson and Jamie K. Henry while in Rockdale County Jail was held outside of the Rockdale County Sheriff’s Office on May 31. Photo by Glenn L. Morgan
was being held for Fulton County on a warrant. Lovingodd-Morre said Henry was arrested during a traffic stop in Rockdale while authorities were on the lookout for a vehicle involved in a burglary. The GBI is conducting an autopsy, LovingoodMoore said. Henry’s parents, who attended the press conference, said that their daughter has a 5-year-old son. Rockdale Sheriff Eric Levett was unavailable for comment for the news conference. Lovingood-Moore said he was on vacation.
“This is about neglect” “These are two deaths that were absolutely preventable,” Davis said. “We believe this is about neglect, a denial of proper medical attention. “Someone is allowing sick people to die at the jail. That’s criminal.” Davis said he expected that some immediate action would have taken place at the jail after the Georgia Bureau of Investigations released its findings on May 24 stating that Tilson had died as a result of “pulmonary thrombi due to dehydration.” Tilson
also had a bruise to the front of his head, which caused hemorrhaging on the back of his brain, Davis said. “It is our understanding (from independent medical experts) that for that level of dehydration, it would have to occur over at least a three-day period. For three days, Mr. Tilson would not have had any water, any fluids, which led to a blood clot forming in his lungs, which ultimately led to his death,” Davis said. “The people who are responsible for the jail have to be held accountable,” Davis said. “There has been no accountability. The person responsible for the daily operation of the jail is still in place.” Activists attending the news conference said Nikie Weathersby, the officer in charge of the jail, should be fired. Activists demand answers Thomas Brantley Jr., president of the Rockdale NAACP, said now that the GBI has released its report, several questions must still be answered including: Why was Tilson shackled? Why was he dehydrated for so long and what does the footage
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