Crime

Suspect Arrested, Charged in Jazmine Barnes’ Killing

WASHINGTON INFORMER — The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement early Sunday that homicide investigators have filed a capital murder charge against Eric Black Jr.

Published

6 years ago

January 9, 2019

Sheryl Estrada Special to The Informer via DiversityInc

By Sheryl Estrada

The Harris County Sheriff’s Office said in a statement early Sunday that homicide investigators have filed a capital murder charge against Eric Black Jr., 20, for the shooting death of 7-year-old Jazmine Barnes in Texas.

“Investigators identified Black as a suspect based on a tip,” states the sheriff’s office. “Subsequent investigation revealed evidence that corroborated the tip, and Black was taken into custody in East Harris County without incident. Black then admitted to taking part in the shooting.”

A second man, Larry Woodruffe, 24, has also been taken into custody, Lee Merritt, the Barnes family’s lawyer, said. According to Merritt, Woodruffe is “believed to be the shooter.”

The shooting occurred when Jazmine’s mother was driving Jazmine and her three sisters southbound on the East Sam Houston Parkway feeder road near Wallisville Road on Dec. 30. The shooter opened fire into their car.

“At this time, investigators do not believe Jazmine’s family was the intended target of the shooting, and that they were possibly shot as a result of mistaken identity,” the sheriff’s office said.

Both suspects in custody are Black, but on Thursday, police released a sketch of the suspected shooter who was believed to be a white man in his 30s or 40s.

Merritt addressed the shooter’s description in an Instagram post on Sunday:

“Larry Woodruffe doesn’t fit the description offered by the 4 different witness statements or composite sketch. Accordingly, this tip was difficult to believe.

“Assuming the confession elicited is reliable — it is possible the previously identified suspect seen fleeing by several independent witnesses was a bystander attempting to escape the shooting.

“To observers, however, he appeared to be the shooter himself. More information will have to be drawn out before there is a conviction.”

Activist Shaun King, who offered a reward for the arrest of the perpetrator, said, on Twitter, that he provided the sheriff’s office a tip leading to the men involved.

This article originally appeared in the Washington Informer.

Sheryl Estrada Special to The Informer via DiversityInc

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Bay Area

Remembering Khadafy Washington: His Memory Has Inspired Hope and Healing in Oakland for 24 years

August marks the 24th anniversary of the shooting death of Khadafy Washington. Washington was only 18 years old when he was killed at McClymonds High School just months after his graduation in August 2000.

Published

7 days ago

October 1, 2024

Oakland Post

Marilyn Washington-Harris, posted 19 billboards around Oakland with the picture of her murdered son, Khadafy Washington, and the blaring question: Do You Know Who Killed Me?

By Brigitte Cook

August marks the 24th anniversary of the shooting death of Khadafy Washington.

Washington was only 18 years old when he was killed at McClymonds High School just months after his graduation in August 2000.

At McClymonds, Washington was the captain of the football team and a talented athlete who enjoyed working out. At 5’6,” he impressed his bigger and taller teammates with his ability to lift 350lbs and to toe-to-toe with them on the gridiron.

Preparing for the future, Washington enrolled in Laney College with dreams of continuing his football career and ultimately transferring to a college in Florida. However, those dreams were abruptly and violently ended.

The young athlete and rising star loved his family and friends, and they loved him, too — especially his sisters and his West Oakland community.

For 24 years now, Washington’s family has been searching for answers and struggling with deep sorrow and grief stemming from his tragic, senseless and untimely death. During the months following his murder, outraged and in pain, Washington’s mother, Marilyn Washington-Harris, posted 19 billboards around the city with his picture and the blaring question: Do You Know Who Killed Me?

Those signs were stark reminders to a city sometimes in denial that too many of its young men were dying violent deaths. Soon she was organizing marches to bring attention to Oakland’s problem with violence, and to the lasting pain families of victims endure. Privately, Washington-Harris would reach out to individual families in the immediate aftermath of a homicide, sending them mementos and reminders that they were not forgotten. In their weakest moments, she protected them from exploitation, scraped up funds for the mostly poor families so that they could bury their dead with dignity and grace, and continued to counsel and care for them as they tried to heal and recover.

As Washington-Harris’s mission grew and evolved, she founded the Khadafy Washington Foundation for Non-Violence to continue to support the thousands of family members of the well-over 2500 people that have been killed in Oakland since that fateful night in 2000.

Even though she has dedicated her life to helping and supporting those who have lost loved ones, Washington-Harris still struggles with the hurt and pain of losing her only son every day. She said, “It comes just like a storm – sometimes it comes quietly and sometimes it is raging. But it never goes away.”

Her plea is that those responsible for his murder be held accountable and her family, and all families like hers, receive the justice they deserve.

Washington-Harris is a founding member of the Family Support Advocates with the Violence Prevention Coalition, advocating for legislation and policies to support all crime victims and especially family members of homicide victims.

FAMILY SUPPORT ADVOCACY TASK FORCE

The mission of the Family Support Advocacy Task Force, a committee of the Violence Prevention Coalition, is to advocate for local, state and federal policies and legislation to enhance and expand support to families and friends of those who experienced violence; for more compassionate and transparent communication between law enforcement, the district attorney with the family of homicide victims and to push for the elimination of all violence, but particularly gun violence and homicides.