Tyrone N. Butts
APE Reporter
54
Hazlehurst stabbing victim dies
Photos at link confirm negritude!
The Rev. Ellis Blackwell reflects on the life and stabbing death of his son, Andra, at his home in Hazlehurst. "He is in God's hands," Blackwell said.
HAZLEHURST --The Rev. Ellis Blackwell plans to preach Sunday about Jesus' resurrection, even though he'll be grieving, too --for his son, Andra.
Afterward, "I'll wipe my eyes before I hit the highway and come home," Blackwell said.
Andra Blackwell, 17, died Monday night at Hardy-Wilson Memorial Hospital after being stabbed once in the chest, said Hazlehurst Police Chief Ellis Stuart. Cruz Deark Gary, 18,
of Pinola is charged with murder in Blackwell's slaying. He was being held without bond at
the Copiah County Detention Center.
Blackwell knows the pain of losing a child. Andra Blackwell, a Hazlehurst High School football player and track team member, is his third child to be killed.
In 1987, the elder Blackwell's son, Cecil Donnell Blackwell, 27, and daughter, Vanessa Blackwell, 17, both were killed about a month apart in separate shootings.
On Tuesday, Blackwell, 67, smiled as he thought about things he shared with his younger son, including football games and redecorating Andra's room.
"He learned to walk right here on the patio," he said. "He made my life better."
Blackwell and his son had been working on a fence together Monday when Andra Blackwell got a call from a girl, he said. The boy told his father he would return in half an hour, Blackwe
ll said.
Much later, someone came to the house and told Blackwell his son had been stabbed.
"That was my place in his casket," said Blackwell, pastor of Sylveste
r United Methodist Church near Forest.
Andra Blackwell's twin sister, Andreyl, had been holding up well, Blackwell said. But his younger daughter, Conquitta, 14, and his wife, Joann, still were suffering.
Stuart said detectives still were trying to figure out why Andra Blackwell was stabbed.
Blackwell said he was told two men were waiting for his son when he arrived at a friend's house at 145 Longwood St. No one was at the home Tuesday.
Witnesses told police a group of people were horseplaying in the front yard of the house where Gary recently had been staying when "things got out of hand," Stuart said.
Stuart recognized Andra Blackwell when he arrived at the crime scene, which is about a half mile from the Blackwell home.
"I tho
ught how horrible to lose another child," said Stuart, who grew up knowing the elder Blackwell. "I don't know how a parent can lose one child, let alone three. I saw him at lunch and he said he'll make it through this."
Nei
ghbor Thomas Murray remembered Andra Blackwell on Tuesday as he sat in a white rocking chair on his front porch. His right arm rested on his Bible.
"He was loved throughout the neighborhood," Murray said. "You feel like you've lost a part of you. It has to be a heavy load on (Rev. Blackwell's) shoulders."
Hazlehurst residents Roman Allen and Courtney White remembered Andra Blackwell as a good guy who wanted to make something of his life.
"I loved to be around him because he made me laugh," said Allen, 21. "He had a good personality. He was a character."
White said there's no reason why anyone could want to hurt Andra Blackwell.
"He was a pretty good 'ole fella,&qu
ot; he said.
Both men say they stay busy at work and home to avoid potentially violent situations and other guys who try to be "hard."
"I feel sorry for the momma and daddy," Allen said. "All we can do is just pray for them."
Blackwell said all he has left is his faith.
"I don't have anything without it," he s
aid. "God knows why. I'm not going to ask God nothing."
**************
Wake up America and smell the nigger.
T.N.B.
Hazlehurst stabbing victim dies
Photos at link confirm negritude!
The Rev. Ellis Blackwell reflects on the life and stabbing death of his son, Andra, at his home in Hazlehurst. "He is in God's hands," Blackwell said.
HAZLEHURST --The Rev. Ellis Blackwell plans to preach Sunday about Jesus' resurrection, even though he'll be grieving, too --for his son, Andra.
Afterward, "I'll wipe my eyes before I hit the highway and come home," Blackwell said.
Andra Blackwell, 17, died Monday night at Hardy-Wilson Memorial Hospital after being stabbed once in the chest, said Hazlehurst Police Chief Ellis Stuart. Cruz Deark Gary, 18,
of Pinola is charged with murder in Blackwell's slaying. He was being held without bond at
the Copiah County Detention Center.
Blackwell knows the pain of losing a child. Andra Blackwell, a Hazlehurst High School football player and track team member, is his third child to be killed.
In 1987, the elder Blackwell's son, Cecil Donnell Blackwell, 27, and daughter, Vanessa Blackwell, 17, both were killed about a month apart in separate shootings.
On Tuesday, Blackwell, 67, smiled as he thought about things he shared with his younger son, including football games and redecorating Andra's room.
"He learned to walk right here on the patio," he said. "He made my life better."
Blackwell and his son had been working on a fence together Monday when Andra Blackwell got a call from a girl, he said. The boy told his father he would return in half an hour, Blackwe
ll said.
Much later, someone came to the house and told Blackwell his son had been stabbed.
"That was my place in his casket," said Blackwell, pastor of Sylveste
r United Methodist Church near Forest.
Andra Blackwell's twin sister, Andreyl, had been holding up well, Blackwell said. But his younger daughter, Conquitta, 14, and his wife, Joann, still were suffering.
Stuart said detectives still were trying to figure out why Andra Blackwell was stabbed.
Blackwell said he was told two men were waiting for his son when he arrived at a friend's house at 145 Longwood St. No one was at the home Tuesday.
Witnesses told police a group of people were horseplaying in the front yard of the house where Gary recently had been staying when "things got out of hand," Stuart said.
Stuart recognized Andra Blackwell when he arrived at the crime scene, which is about a half mile from the Blackwell home.
"I tho
ught how horrible to lose another child," said Stuart, who grew up knowing the elder Blackwell. "I don't know how a parent can lose one child, let alone three. I saw him at lunch and he said he'll make it through this."
Nei
ghbor Thomas Murray remembered Andra Blackwell on Tuesday as he sat in a white rocking chair on his front porch. His right arm rested on his Bible.
"He was loved throughout the neighborhood," Murray said. "You feel like you've lost a part of you. It has to be a heavy load on (Rev. Blackwell's) shoulders."
Hazlehurst residents Roman Allen and Courtney White remembered Andra Blackwell as a good guy who wanted to make something of his life.
"I loved to be around him because he made me laugh," said Allen, 21. "He had a good personality. He was a character."
White said there's no reason why anyone could want to hurt Andra Blackwell.
"He was a pretty good 'ole fella,&qu
ot; he said.
Both men say they stay busy at work and home to avoid potentially violent situations and other guys who try to be "hard."
"I feel sorry for the momma and daddy," Allen said. "All we can do is just pray for them."
Blackwell said all he has left is his faith.
"I don't have anything without it," he s
aid. "God knows why. I'm not going to ask God nothing."
**************
Wake up America and smell the nigger.
T.N.B.