Family, friends attend vigil for slain Fayetteville teen
FAYETTEVILLE (WTVD) -- Monday evening, family and friends of 16-year-old Joseph Braxton came together and urged everyone to keep the peace following the teen's murder.
Braxton was shot and killed Saturday night outside a house party for a friend.
Neighbors say they heard gunshots around 10:30 p.m., and then found the Seventy-First High School Student in a neighbor's yard, struggling to breathe. He died a short time later.
At a prayer vigil Monday, family and friends held hands and prayer for peace and the violence to end.
Shamarr Melvin-McDonald frequently visits the makeshift memorial to his friend, Braxton.
"That's my little bro", he said "He is always going to be right there [in his heart]."
Several adults at the vigil, pleaded with the young people to help police, and listen to what they were saying -- that vengeance and violence are not the answer.
Eric Grady told the crowd to take this tragedy as a lesson.
"I want you to live for Joe," he said. "Live for Joe. Don't die for him."
Fayetteville police say getting young people to talk is frustrating.
"We know that there were many more than 20 people in that vicinity when the shooting occurred, but once again, we have a lot of young people who probably have video and photos, and eyewitness accounts, but they are not coming forward to help us," said Fayetteville Police Chief Harold Medlock.
Medlock says all tips made to the Crimestopper's hotline are anonymous.
POSSIBLE MOTIVE
Meanwhile, Braxton's family members said the three shooting suspects are also students at the high school.
Family members said Braxton had problems with the three suspects in the weeks leading up to the shooting. Those issues, they said, began at Seventy-First High School, where the four were students.
"It's somewhat of a neighborhood thing," said Tabitha Brown, Braxton's mother. "It was very petty. It was very minor."
"Every last one of them [suspects] are in school today," added Melissa Brown, Braxton's aunt.
Braxton was a freshman and the other boys are seniors according to Braxton's family.
On Monday morning, security was visibly heightened at the high school. Several deputy cars lined the front entrance of the school, and Cumberland County School authorities confirmed extra security was on hand due to the shooting.
Braxton's family members said city police were inside the school interviewing suspects.
"We know who the guys is who did this to my brother," said Braxton's sister. "It all started from Seventy-First High School. They came to where we live at [last week]. I was actually one of the ones fighting them with my brother."
Melissa Brown, Braxton's aunt, said that was the most recent incident that occurred last Tuesday. Her nephew had been sent home from the school due to problems with the other three students.
"He got put out of his school, had to walk home through a graveyard to get home for safety, and all the boys, the senior boys, met him on the corner of the house and all of them was fighting on him," Brown said.
"They're suspending the children that's not using guns," said Tabitha Brown, referring to her son's suspension. "The children that are using these guns and killing these kids is in school."
"This is what things lead to," Melissa Brown said. "If it's not suicide from a child being picked on, it's from another child killing another child. It's just crazy."
DOWN SOUTH FOR A BETTER LIFE
"He was my only son. He was my heart, and it's like right now, I'm trying to find my heart," cried Tabitha Brown.
Brown said Braxton was the youngest of six children. She moved the family from Brooklyn to Fayetteville four years ago. She said she had hopes of a safer, better life for her children.
Brown said her son left their Belle Terra Court home for a friend's sweet sixteen party just after 9:30 p.m. Saturday. By 10:15 p.m., she'd received the call about the shooting.
"I told my brother don't go to that party, Joseph. I told him that," said Denisha Brown, one of Braxton's sisters.
"I just had a bad feeling about it," added Tabitha Brown.
Brown said the loss of her son still hasn't hit her completely. She hasn't viewed his body yet, but she knows she will bury him in Fayetteville instead of their native New York, where family members are also mourning.
"We can't question God," said her sister, Melissa Brown. "We can't ask God why. God has the last say-so of all, and it's just hurts so bad."
"The pain is out of this world."
Anyone with information concerning the homicide or the identity of the suspect(s) is asked to contact Detective J. Walker with the Fayetteville Police Department at (910) 237-9391 or Crimestoppers at (910) 483-TIPS (8477). Crimestoppers information can also be submitted by visiting http://www.fay-nccrimestoppers.org/send_a_tip.aspx and completing the anonymous online tip sheet or by text-a-tip on your mobile device by sending a message to 274637 (in the text box type "4Tip" followed by your message).
