TOPDOG08.COM

« Excommunicated for being a Democrat | Main | Please just admit the answer already »

May 06, 2005

How much is your life worth?

This story should be getting at least as much coverage as some of those kidnapping stories in the Southeast have been been getting.

From the Miami Herald, via P6:

A 5-year-old girl was killed before her family could drive to safety away from shootings in a crime-ridden Opa-locka area known as the Triangle.

The shooting started Monday, sporadic gunfire that forced residents of an Opa-locka apartment building to scramble for cover. Families avoided windows. Babies slept on the floor.

Police came out several times, but as soon as they left, the bullets were flying again. By the second night of the siege at 2070 Lincoln Ave., Nicquila Godbee decided she had to get her three children out the next time the police showed up.

A little before 1 a.m. Wednesday, her 5-year-old daughter, Melanise ''Neenee'' Malone, hugged a police officer and climbed into the family's van.

They got only a couple of blocks away before a spray of bullets ripped through the van. And Neenee was dead.

It was not just random gun fire. It was a gang hit. Pure and simple:

''We know who did it,'' Dashonna Godbee said. ``They terrify our whole neighborhood.''

Both sisters said they didn't know why people were shooting at them, but they were certain three men who run with a drug gang called 21 Jump Street were responsible. Dumpsters on every corner on the block sport 21 Jump Street graffiti.

Other Triangle residents said the gunfire began because of a dispute between members of the gang and Nicquila Godbee's boyfriend, Cooks.

''They robbed my nephew and then there was a lot of shooting back and forth,'' said Cooks' uncle, Kenneth Glover, who also lives in the building.

Whatever sparked the siege, Godbee's apartment wasn't the only one shot up during the two days before Neenee was killed.

''In a way, I'm used to it living here,'' said Nicole Hood, a resident of the yellow, two-story apartment building. ``But I was scared yesterday because it was bad. We had to sleep on the floor in the back room.''

The saddest part:

Miami-Dade police spokeswoman Nelda Fonticiella confirmed that dispatchers got requests to send out the county police.

''We're aware that the residents called us,'' she said. ``That happens all the time. But unless [Opa-locka police] call us, it's kind of treading on their territory.''

Many residents in the Triangle are frustrated with the city police.

''Calling them is like calling your next-door neighbor,'' Laconsta Malone said. ``They aren't going to do any good.''

Officials say the situation is difficult to tackle.

The department is short-staffed -- only three officers were patrolling on the midnight shift -- and has been frequently criticized for not adequately protecting areas like the Triangle.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement noted in a report last year that the drug dealers in the Triangle aren't afraid of the local police and even make deals in front of officers in marked police cars.

So arrest them, dumb asses. Ya got the man enough power for that?

Posted by Mike at May 6, 2005 01:51 AM

Trackback Pings

TrackBack URL for this entry:
http://www.topdog08.com/cgi-bin/mt-trackback.cgi/658

Comments

Post a comment