Commentary

COMMENTARY: Justice for Jazmine

NNPA NEWSWIRE — Many in the Greater Houston community are relieved to know that Jazmine’s killers have been apprehended and may soon face justice. However, the road to finding these suspects has been a real rollercoaster of high emotions and cloudy details.

Published

5 years ago

January 10, 2019

Oakland Post

By Jeffrey L. Boney, Associate Editor via Houston Forward Times

Since December 30th of last year, the Greater Houston community has been in a frenzy due to the fact that no one had been apprehended for the tragic drive-by shooting death of 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes, who was shot in the head as she and her three sisters sat in their mother’s car while going to the store.

Now, many in the community are relieved to know that Jazmine’s killers have been apprehended and may soon face justice. However, the road to finding these suspects has been a real rollercoaster of high emotions and cloudy details.

Most of the frenzy came with the reports that the alleged shooter was a White male driving a red pickup truck. That information turned out not to be true.

Before the suspects were arrested, police had released a sketch of the suspect based on the description provided by Jazmine’s mother, LaPorsha Washington, and her three sisters. The description they gave identified the shooter as a White man in his 40s, driving away in a red pickup truck. However, we now know that Jazmine’s shooter was not a White man, but was actually a Black man, who was joined by another Black man as his accomplice.

Two suspects – Eric Black Jr. and Larry Woodruffe – have been identified as the individuals responsible for Jazmine’s murder.

As part of their investigation, the Harris County Sheriff’s Office states they received an anonymous tip from New York-based writer and activist, Shaun King, after someone reached out to him with information stating that Black and another person, identified in court as “L.W.,” shot at Jazmine’s family’s vehicle after mistaking it for another one. That person was later identified as Woodruffe.

According to an affidavit, Black was arrested this past Saturday during a traffic stop for allegedly not using his turn signal. He was taken into custody for marijuana possession and when he was questioned by homicide investigators about the murder based on the tips they had received, Black allegedly told investigators that he was the driver of the vehicle that was used in the shooting. He went on to say that a man in the passenger seat, who is believed to be Woodruffe, was the person who actually shot Jazmine, according to the affidavit.

Woodruffe was allegedly a passenger in a rental car when he and Black spotted a vehicle they thought they recognized and allegedly opened fire out the window as they drove by. The two men returned the rental car and picked up a new one that Black was driving when authorities stopped him.

The affidavit also states that Black told investigators the gun used in the shooting was at his home and that he gave officers permission to search for the gun, and upon doing so found a 9mm pistol consistent with shell casings recovered from the scene.

Black faces a capital murder charge for his role in the shooting death of Jazmine. According to jail records, Woodruffe is currently in custody on drug possession charges and has also been charged with capital murder in connection with the shooting.

In the meantime, investigators still want to locate the driver of the red pickup truck that was reported at the scene by many witnesses, including Jazmine’s family. According to Harris County Sheriff Gonzalez, his office does not believe that racism or the driver had any role to play in the shooting, as had been previously reported. Gonzalez wants that driver to come forward and hopes the arrest of the suspects can lead to healing for the family and the community.

“We still want that individual (driving the red truck) to come forward, as it appears this was a case of mistaken identity,” Gonzalez said at a press conference this past Sunday. “This death of Jazmine has sparked a lot of discussion on many different levels and I think that it is good that going forward we continue to have positive dialogue on a number of issues.”

Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee also joined Gonzalez at the press conference and shared her thoughts on the tragic loss of life of this young girl.

“I ask for the continued prayers of the community for the family of Jazmine Barnes,” said Congresswoman Jackson Lee. “I commend Sheriff Ed Gonzalez and the entire Harris County Sheriff’s Department, Chief Art Acevedo and the Houston Police Department, Houston Constables, and all other law enforcement, including the Department of Justice, which offered and provided the services of their federal law enforcement operation. This was a heinous crime. Our entire community and the nation were filled with horror and thoughts of the real possibility, based on early descriptions, that this crime was based upon hate. Again, we hope the family will now have peace and will be able to funeralize little Jazmine Barnes and bring some solace and peace to all of their lives. They will never have this precious little girl again in their lives. This entirely premature death of this beautiful little girl has shocked me and our community and outraged the nation. May God bless the family and this community.”

The details of the shooting death are truly heart wrenching.

As Jazmine’s mother drove them to the store to get items to cook breakfast that morning, the suspects pulled up next to their car around 7 a.m. and opened fire. Jazmine’s mother was shot in the arm, but Jazmine was shot in the head and was lifeless before even making it to a hospital. This situation has been truly traumatic for the parents.

Christopher Cevilla, Jazmine’s father, was relieved at the news of the suspects being caught. He said he breathed “a sigh of relief that police did their job and found who they feel is the right suspect.”

This case has garnered national attention in that Shaun King helped lead a charge to offer a $100,000 reward for information that would lead to the capture and conviction of Jazmine’s killers. No information has been released on whether the anonymous tipster will be receiving the reward for their helpful information. This past Saturday, a “Justice for Jazmine” rally drew hundreds of supporters and nearly 3,000 people have donated to a GoFundMe account that was set up for Jazmine’s funeral expenses and family. Even Houston Texans receiver DeAndre Hopkins pledged to donate his entire playoff game check to the family.

Jazmine was laid to rest this past Tuesday at Green House International Church.

There is still more information forthcoming about this case.

Oakland Post

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Opinion: Lessons for Current Student Protesters From a San Francisco State Strike Veteran

How the nation’s first College of Ethnic studies came about, bringing together Latino, African American and Asian American disciplines may offer some clues as to how to ease the current turmoil on American college campuses over the Israel-Hamas war. After the deadline passed to end the Columbia University encampment by 2 p.m. Monday, student protesters blockaded and occupied Hamilton Hall in a symbolic move early Tuesday morning. Protesters did the same in 1968.

Published

3 days ago

May 3, 2024

Oakland Post

iStock Photo

By Emil Guillermo

After the deadline passed to end the Columbia University encampment by 2 p.m. Monday, student protesters blockaded and occupied Hamilton Hall in a symbolic move early Tuesday morning.

Protesters did the same in 1968.

That made me think of San Francisco State University, 1968.

The news was filled with call backs to practically every student protest in the past six decades as arrests mounted into hundreds on nearly two dozen campuses around the country.

In 1970, the protests at Kent State were over the Vietnam War. Ohio National Guardsmen came in, opened fire, and killed four students.

Less than two weeks later that year, civil rights activists outside a dormitory at Jackson State were confronted by armed police. Two African American students were killed, twelve injured.

But again, I didn’t hear anyone mention San Francisco State University, 1968.

That protest addressed all the issues of the day and more. The student strike at SFSU was against the Vietnam war.

That final goal was eventually achieved, but there was violence, sparked mostly by “outside agitators,” who were confronted by police.

“People used the term ‘off the pigs’ but it was more rally rhetoric than a call to action (to actually kill police),” said Daniel Phil Gonzales, who was one of the strikers in 1968.

Gonzales, known as the go-to resource among Filipino American scholars for decades, went on to teach at what was the positive outcome of the strike, San Francisco State University’s College of Ethnic Studies. It’s believed to be the first of its kind in the nation. Gonzales recently retired after more than 50 years as professor.

As for today’s protests, Gonzales is dismayed that the students have constantly dealt with charges of antisemitism.

“It stymies conversation and encourages further polarization and the possibility of violent confrontation,” he said. “You’re going to be labeled pro-Hamas or pro-terrorist.”

That’s happening now. But we forget we are dealing not with Hamas proxies. We are dealing with students.

Gonzales said that was a key lesson at SF State’s strike. The main coalition driving the strike was aided by self-policing from inside of the movement. “That’s very difficult to maintain. Once you start this kind of activity, you don’t know who’s going to join,” he said.

Gonzales believes that in the current situation, there is a patch of humanity, common ground, where one can be both pro-Palestine and pro-Israel. He said it’s made difficult if you stand against the belligerent policies of Benjamin Netanyahu. In that case, you’re likely to be labeled antisemitic.

Despite that, Gonzales is in solidarity with the protesters and the people of Gaza, generally. Not Hamas. And he sees how most of the young people protesting are in shock at what he called the “duration of the absolute inhumane kind of persecution and prosecution of the Palestinians carried out by the Israeli government.”

As a survivor of campus protest decades ago, Gonzales offered some advice to the student protesters of 2024.

“You have to have a definable goal, but right now the path to that goal is unclear,” he said.

About the Author

Emil Guillermo is a journalist and commentator. A veteran newsman in TV and print, he is a former host of NPR’s “All Things Considered.”