Leaders rally after Sadie Mitchell death

Neighborhood leaders plan to rally Wakefield against teen violence in the wake of an October tragedy. E. 224th Street grandmother Sadie Mitchell, 92, died when a stray bullet burst into her living room.

The alleged shooter, Jamal Blair, 18, was indicted by a grand jury for murder on Wednesday, October 28.

Councilman Larry Seabrook has scheduled a “stop the violence” memorial march for Sunday, November 15 at 2 p.m. Mitchell attended civic meetings and loved her neighbors, Seabrook said.

The councilman has asked parents and children, teachers, labor leaders, clergy, civic leaders, business owners and anti-violence groups to participate.

“City Hall needs to be more proactive in dealing with the proliferation of guns in our neighborhoods,” Seabrook said. “There must be a plan executed …to take guns off the street and out of the hands of thugs and gangs.”

Defeated 12th Council District candidate and teen mentor Andy King held a discussion on violence at Richard R. Greene Middle School on Wednesday, November 4.

“We have failed our young people,” King said. “Some of our young people have no hope for tomorrow.”

Blair allegedly fired the shot in response to an argument with a group of teens from the Edenwald Houses.

On Friday, October 23, the E. 233rd Street resident pled not guilty to second-degree murder.

Blair is also charged with manslaughter and criminal possession of a weapon.

He faces a maximum imprisonment of 25 years to life and is being held without bail until an arraignment scheduled for Friday, November 13.

Although Blair’s lawyer has stated that his client fired the shot to break up the argument and had no idea it would hit Mitchell, the grand jury alleged that Blair acted “in a manner evincing a depraved indifference to human life.”

King thinks that dysfunctional households push teens in Wakefield to join gangs.

Neighborhood leaders need to enlist tractable teens in the battle against violence, he said. Omar Howe of Wakefield, 18, suggested that overzealous police officers are partly to blame.

Even teens not in gangs are hassled by the police department, Howe said.

“When you get off the train [police officers] ask where you’re going,” Howe explained.

Teens turn to crime because they’re treated like criminals, he said. Carrie Jeremy of Wakefield, 19, thinks that gun-related crime has increased in the neighborhood.

Although police statistics reveal a dip, hundreds of crimes go unreported, Jeremy surmised. Guns are too easy to obtain; Jeremy knows a nine-year old gang member, she said. Jeremy and Coretta Duberry, 18, hang out at home rather than on the street.

Teen violence in Wakefield reflects poorly on teens determined to study hard and succeed, Duberry said.

She has lost a handful of friends to violence, Duberry added.

“Being poor is no excuse for not understanding the difference between right and wrong,” Seabrook said.

The November 15 march will run from Gun Hill Road and White Plains Road to E. 224th Street, and from E. 233rd Street and White Plaints Road to E. 224th Street, simultaneously.