Senseless, seemingly unprovoked violence is a central issue in Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse Five. Unfortunately, senseless violence is also a part of every day life. You need only to watch the news or read the newspaper to know that. Yesterday's incident in west Detroit, outlined in the following article is the latest in a series of cases in metro Detroit. The Detroit police chief said in a related article that the incident was is part of an "explosion of violence"
Drugs, cash and 2 dead kids
Police: 5 dealers kidnapped cousin to get in Detroit home
February 27, 2007
BY AMBER HUNT and BEN SCHMITT
FREE PRESS STAFF WRITERS
They knew the two boys in the house on Detroit's west side wouldn't open the door for just anybody. So they kidnapped one of the boys' adult cousins to get them in.
And when the boys saw him at the front door, they unlocked and opened it -- and unwittingly let five drug dealers push their way inside the house.
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That's how police sources Monday described the scene leading up to Friday night's shootings of 11-year-old Darren Johnson and 13-year-old Orlando Herron, two cousins authorities identified as drug runners. Both were shot in the head at close range.
Orlando was shot multiple times; Darren, less than two hours shy of his 12th birthday when he was killed, was shot once.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy said the motive for the shootings -- a crime that led her to authorize charges against five people Monday -- appears to be drugs and money.
"Two children were killed by being shot in the head," Worthy said in a statement. "The enormity of this senseless crime is incomprehensible."
Police, meanwhile, say they are trying to find out what led the shooters to the home on Mansfield, though the stories -- gleaned through interviews with witnesses -- center on money the alleged intruders believed they were entitled to.
Sources close to the investigation said one version has the five suspects pushing their way into the home, where they bound and gagged the kidnapped 23-year-old cousin, whom police allege also is a drug dealer.
Once inside, investigators said, the intruders began screaming, "Where's the money?"
Then they ransacked the home and shot the boys to show their ruthless determination to find what they were looking for.
It was unclear what money the intruders may have been after. But police also are investigating a claim suggesting the boys may have stolen money from a drug dealer and been killed in retaliation.
"Everybody's pointing the finger at everybody else," one police official said.
The 23-year-old man was shot in the leg, arm and torso and left for dead, authorities said. He survived and remains in serious condition at a Detroit-area hospital, which police declined to name to protect him. His name is not being released.
Three other people in the house -- two juveniles and one adult -- also were assaulted, police said.
The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office authorized charges against Sonya O'Neal, 38; Torrisandois Lyons, 42; Deandre Witherspoon, 23; Robert Reed, 36, and Charles Moore, 38.
All have Detroit residences, and each faces two counts of first-degree murder, kidnapping, two counts of assault with intent to rob, assault with intent to murder, two counts of armed robbery, conspiracy to commit felony murder and using a firearm to commit a felony.
Each also is charged as a habitual offender.
Lyons, who turned himself in Saturday night after Detroit police released his name and photograph to the news media, served seven years on drug charges for a 1986 conviction, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections. He later served about 2 1/2 years for having, or attempting to sell, a Taser.
O'Neal served eight months in prison on a 2003 drug charge. She also served two years in federal prison on a cocaine distribution conviction. Federal court documents indicate she had been investigated by the federal Drug Enforcement Administration in 1996.
Police said they seized nine weapons and $40,000 in cash from her home on Orleans.
Worthy commended Detroit police for "their round-the-clock work to find the people who committed these vicious acts."
Officials said both boys were dealing drugs, but neither has a criminal record.
A man who identified himself as Darren's father, also named Darren Johnson, hung up Monday when reached by the Free Press. His last known address on the city's west side was empty and for sale. Calls to members of Orlando's family were not returned.
Residents on Mansfield, where yellow police tape was still stretched across several lawns Monday afternoon, said they didn't know who lived in the house across the street from Gardner Elementary School. All declined to give their names for fear of retaliation.
However, all agreed that the neighborhood, which once was modest but safe, has turned violent in recent years.
One 43-year-old man said his car had been broken into twice. Another said his home had been shot up in a drive-by. Most residents keep dogs and firearms for protection and rarely open their doors for strangers, they said.
For-sale signs dot the run-down street, but, as one resident said, "Who would buy a house here? I'm stuck. I want to move, but I'm stuck."
Contact BEN SCHMITT at 313-223-4296 or bcschmitt@freepress.com. Contact AMBER HUNT at 313-222-2708 or alhunt@freepress.com. Staff writer Jack Kresnak contributed to this report.
In posting #4 you will be reflecting on the issue of senseless violence, focusing specifically on the following questions. This posting should be AT LEAST 5 paragraphs.
1) What drives people to commit violent acts? Is it their upbringing or is it part of their nature?
2) What is your reaction to the incident with the two young boys in West Detroit? How did it make you feel?
3) What messages are sent about violence in the popular popular media today? (music, film television, video games, books, etc) and what are the effects on people, especially children?
4) What responsibilities do parents have to protect their kids from being either a victim or a perpetrator of violent acts?
5) Ask your mentor what he/she thinks about the issue, and of course respond to whatever comments they've made on previous posts
