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Wednesday, May 14, 2008
Mum’s the word though killer goes free
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
A friend dropped by the other day. We got to talking and, during our side-door chat, he wondered aloud what ever happened in the double shooting in south Gwinnett County.
It was a high profile crime. There was a party for two teen siblings in a subdivision off Mink Livsey Road Oct. 27. During the festivities, one 16-year-old was shot to death and another was seriously injured.
Original reports were that the shootings were done by uninvited guests who crashed the party. No one has been charged in the case.
My friend wondered how a crime committed in the midst of 150 party-goers would remain unsolved.
I remembered reading that Gwinnett Police were having trouble finding people who would talk about the shooting. Apparently that has not changed.
Cpl. Illana Spellman, spokesperson for Gwinnett Police, recently said the “case is suspended for now until additional leads come in. The neighborhood would not cooperate with Detective [Chris] Smith at the time. No one would provide any information. That is still the situation now.”
Spellman said she spoke with the detective personally at the time of the shooting and during the follow-up on the investigation.
“He expressed his frustration … about the neighbors and friends not being cooperative with interviews or with answering any questions about what happened or who may have seen the suspects,” Spellman said.
“The detective did not receive any return calls when he would attempt to make contact with individuals who may have had information,” Spellman said. “He would make continuous phone calls and visits and not get any responses. I remember putting out a couple of press releases about urging the public to come forward and cooperating with the investigation — to no avail.”
Why? Why would no one want to talk when a life has been lost? Why would none of those who were attending the party with the victims speak up? What about neighbors?
This week, I went down to Chafin Point Court where the shootings occurred. The street of two-story, mostly well-kept brick-and-rock-front homes, was quiet.
I knocked on 11 doors near the crime site. I talked to six people.
None would give their names. None claimed to know anything. Their answers were vague.
One said the neighborhood was “fine.” He said he had heard that the trouble was caused by people from DeKalb County, not local residents. He didn’t want to be identified, however: “I don’t want trouble. You never know.”
One said she was concerned that the killer had not been caught but that she knows nothing.
Another said the family that held the party has since moved. But that he knows nothing.
And on it went.
Why would people not talk? Some truthfully may know nothing. But others seemed more uncooperative than uninformed.
Were they afraid? Or just distrustful?
Spellman said such reticence, unfortunately, is common at times.
“Some people do not trust police based on their personal experiences or their perception of police,” she said. “Some do not want to become involved or be seen by their peers as a ‘snitch.’ Others may be afraid of retaliation if word got back that they were even speaking with an officer.”
So, one teen received spinal injuries. One teen is dead. Six months have passed. And all is quiet on Chafin Point Court.
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