Saturday, June 26, 2010

Random Violence Trend in City Continues Second Weekend in a Row


By Alicia Cruz
The Black Urban Times


The murders of three people in Brooklyn, occurring within a six-block radius of one another in Bushwick and Bedford-Stuyvesant, and the murder of a Bronx woman on Saturday seem to follow a bloody trend from the previous weekend when four people from the Bronx, Manhattan and Brooklyn were all killed in what appears to be random acts of violence that occurred within hours of one another.

Police say the first of the three murders began a little after 1 a.m. Saturday when an unidentified woman was found near a pay phone at Hancock Street and Bushwick Avenue bleeding from multiple gunshot wounds. The woman was taken to Woodhull Medical and Mental Health Center where she was pronounced dead.

By last week, there had been four murders in the 83rd precinct, down from the same time last year, police told the New York Times.

A 22-year resident of the neighborhood, Carol Vaughn told the New York Times that she was watching television when she heard gunshots.

"At first I thought it was firecrackers," said Vaughn. "The neighborhood has gotten really good. Every now and then there’s something. But it’s not like it was."

Vaughn,57, added that she watched as EMT personnel attempted to revive the 22-year-old woman, whom Vaughn said she did not know.

The next murder followed at 2:39 a.m., on Halsey Street and Wilson Avenue, a mere three blocks from the previous murder. Police arrived to find the body of an unidentified 32-year-old man with a gunshot wound to the back. Hours later, a shrine to the victim had been erected at the scene.

Brookyln's last murder of the night occurred at Halsey Street and Reid Avenue, in the 81st precinct. Officers responding to a report of a stabbing arrived at the scene around 2:46 a.m. where they found 26-year-old Kevin Grandison stabbed in his chest. He was later pronounced dead on arrival at Kings County Hospital.

The victim, who was about to become a father, was stabbed approximately a half of a block from where he lived. His sister, Tonia Williams, said Grandison was stabbed over a "stupid argument."

"I don’t know much more than that," Williams told the New York Times from the stoop of the home she shared with her brother. "I love him, and he will be deeply missed."

Thomas Gilliam, 49, a Grandison's cousin, said he didn't know why his cousin was stabbed, but told reporters that he heard the commotion prior to the stabbing and that he believed the argument had begun a block away. Gilliam said Grandison was due to begin a new job the following week at a warehouse in Manhattan.

"He was a good dude. Everyone in the neighborhood liked him," said Gilliam.

Homicides in the 81 precinct are up this year from nine (by June 20) from six last year around the same time frame.

The last murder occurred on Watson Avenue in the Soundview section of the Bronx. Police say 40-year-old Anna Maria Silva was stabbed to death in her apartment by Fabian Faulkner, 26. Police say Faulkner called 911 to report the stabbing, then turned himself in when officers arrived. He has been charged with murder and possession of a weapon, a knife, which police recovered at the scene.

At press time Saturday evening, police had not reported arrests in any of the Brooklyn murders, which police say they do not believe to be related.

Media Outlets must credit
The Black Urban Times

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