Don't know if you already heard about it but this is the kind of story that should get attention.
MILWAUKEE — Darius Simmons was like a lot of 13-year-old boys — funny, boisterous and a little braggy.
Pictures show him chomping on a piece of pizza, hugging a cat and goofing with his friends.
"He was a jokester, loving and funny," said Toni Clark, who taught him sixth grade at Gaenslen Elementary School in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood.
His friends and family gathered Saturday to remember him in front of the house he moved into 29 days before he was gunned down while retrieving a trash can from the street.
John Henry Spooner, his 75-year-old next-door neighbor, is charged with first-degree murder in the boy’s death. Spooner, a widower who has been diagnosed with cancer, had complained to Alderman Bob Donovan about a break-in at his home earlier in the week, blaming the family next door.
Spooner admitted to police that he shot Darius on Thursday morning, even as the boy had held up his arms and ran away.
"It’s very disturbing," Donovan said Saturday. "John lived in the neighborhood a long time. I never knew him to so much as loiter or spit on the street."
The houses sit 15 feet apart on the 1900 block of W. Arrow Street, a traditional south side neighborhood of modest wood-framed houses, small lawns and tall ash trees. A prayer service and news conference drew more than 50 people Saturday afternoon.
"The violence has to stop," said Leondis Fuller of New Covenant Holistic Ministries, who said his three sons have been murdered in Milwaukee since 1993. "We are taking lives away too lightly. God’s people are suffering. The suffering has to stop."
Patricia Larry, Darius’ mother, sat on a chair on the front lawn, sobbing as family members fanned her and wiped her forehead with a wet cloth.
Betty McCuiston, Darius’ aunt, said the boy was in school Tuesday when someone broke into Spooner’s house and stole some guns. She said police searched Darius’ house after he was shot but did not find any of Spooner’s guns.
"He was gunned down for something he did not do," she said.
McCuiston said her sister moved to the neighborhood on May 1 from the north side because she wanted something quieter and safer than her old neighborhood.
Darius talked about going to Milwaukee Tech high school, said Clark, the teacher.
"He was determined to get a good education," she said, noting that he often rode his bike more than seven miles each way to go to school.
Due to the Trayvon Martin case I thought it would be appropriate to draw the comparison. While the Martin case is tragic, there are still aspects of the case and victim that make me apprehensive about casting judgment and going off the page on white America. This case however, is undoubtedly a case of severe racism that definitely should not be ignored and fully addressed. I honestly cannot control my anger at the thought of this innocent black child being brutally murdered for absolutely nothing at the hands of a bigot who has no remorse for the crime he committed.
MILWAUKEE — Darius Simmons was like a lot of 13-year-old boys — funny, boisterous and a little braggy.
Pictures show him chomping on a piece of pizza, hugging a cat and goofing with his friends.
"He was a jokester, loving and funny," said Toni Clark, who taught him sixth grade at Gaenslen Elementary School in Milwaukee’s Riverwest neighborhood.
His friends and family gathered Saturday to remember him in front of the house he moved into 29 days before he was gunned down while retrieving a trash can from the street.
John Henry Spooner, his 75-year-old next-door neighbor, is charged with first-degree murder in the boy’s death. Spooner, a widower who has been diagnosed with cancer, had complained to Alderman Bob Donovan about a break-in at his home earlier in the week, blaming the family next door.
Spooner admitted to police that he shot Darius on Thursday morning, even as the boy had held up his arms and ran away.
"It’s very disturbing," Donovan said Saturday. "John lived in the neighborhood a long time. I never knew him to so much as loiter or spit on the street."
The houses sit 15 feet apart on the 1900 block of W. Arrow Street, a traditional south side neighborhood of modest wood-framed houses, small lawns and tall ash trees. A prayer service and news conference drew more than 50 people Saturday afternoon.
"The violence has to stop," said Leondis Fuller of New Covenant Holistic Ministries, who said his three sons have been murdered in Milwaukee since 1993. "We are taking lives away too lightly. God’s people are suffering. The suffering has to stop."
Patricia Larry, Darius’ mother, sat on a chair on the front lawn, sobbing as family members fanned her and wiped her forehead with a wet cloth.
Betty McCuiston, Darius’ aunt, said the boy was in school Tuesday when someone broke into Spooner’s house and stole some guns. She said police searched Darius’ house after he was shot but did not find any of Spooner’s guns.
"He was gunned down for something he did not do," she said.
McCuiston said her sister moved to the neighborhood on May 1 from the north side because she wanted something quieter and safer than her old neighborhood.
Darius talked about going to Milwaukee Tech high school, said Clark, the teacher.
"He was determined to get a good education," she said, noting that he often rode his bike more than seven miles each way to go to school.
Due to the Trayvon Martin case I thought it would be appropriate to draw the comparison. While the Martin case is tragic, there are still aspects of the case and victim that make me apprehensive about casting judgment and going off the page on white America. This case however, is undoubtedly a case of severe racism that definitely should not be ignored and fully addressed. I honestly cannot control my anger at the thought of this innocent black child being brutally murdered for absolutely nothing at the hands of a bigot who has no remorse for the crime he committed.
not this shyt again
. Plus people will raise money for his treatment. Certain groups seem to rally behind the killers of "urban youths"
this shyt is sickening
