A scholarship created in honor of slain 8-year-old Secoriea Turner raised more than $12,000 just moments after it was announced Friday morning.
Secoriea was killed in the aftermath of Rayshard Brooks’ death and the ensuing protests when she was shot at a gang-related blockade in Atlanta on July 4, 2020. Two men were arrested in connection with the shooting, but their legal case and the family’s civil case have lingered in court, activist Derrick Boazman said at a news conference Friday in the sanctuary of St. Paul AME Church.
Secoriea’s parents, Secoriey Williamson and Charmaine Turner, wanted to establish a scholarship because of their daughter’s love for books and learning, their attorney Mawuli Davis said. They plan for the funds to help pay for college for a young woman who has demonstrated an interest in social justice. According to Boazman, 8-year-old Secoriea had already expressed a desire to go to college herself.
Boazman said his nonprofit organization, Let Us Make Man, would seed the fund with $2,500. That initial donation was soon matched by several others: Marty Monegain, executive director of Black Man Lab; Rev. Shawn Drains of St. Paul AME; attorney Harold Spence, a partner at Davis Bozeman Johnson Law; and Debra DeBerry, the Superior Court clerk in DeKalb County.
In less than five minutes, the scholarship was funded with $12,500. As one donor after another stepped forward, Williamson and Turner smiled for the first time during the news conference.
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
According to Davis, the parents’ goal is to eventually establish a foundation in honor of their daughter. This scholarship, which aims to continue in perpetuity, is just the first step.
“Maybe we could help another young woman go to college and keep (Secoriea’s) name alive as best we can,” Williamson said.
The near immediate rush of community generosity served as a stark contrast to a legal process that Williamson called “frustrating.”
Spence, another attorney for the family, blamed the Fulton County courts for the lack of progress.
“Sometimes cases move slowly because of the lawyers involved,” Spence said. “This civil case is moving slowly, not because of anything the lawyers have failed to do, but because of judicial inactivity.”
Spence said the civil case had been stalled for nearly two years as attorneys waited for the court to rule on a routine motion.
In the criminal case, the suspects charged in connection with Secoriea’s death, Jerrion McKinney and Julian Conley, have remained in the Fulton jail without bond since their arrests. Arguments in McKinney’s case reached the Georgia Supreme Court earlier this year after his lawyer asked to exclude evidence from firearm-related offenses he committed years before in Missouri, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution previously reported. The Supreme Court ruled unanimously that the evidence could be used at trial under Georgia’s Street Gang Terrorism and Prevention Act.
The case was remanded to Fulton’s Superior Court after the Supreme Court’s decision. The co-defendants’ next court date has not been set.
Spence, who was buoyant after the birth of his grandson Thursday night, said a scholarship was a fitting way to honor Secoriea. He made his donation in dedication to his newborn grandchild.
“Even though she was only 8, we know that she had already developed a love of words, a love of reading and a love of books,” Spence said of Secoriea. “She intuitively understood that books and the words in them could introduce her to people she might never meet and transport her to places she might never go. ... She was already talking about college at age 8.”
Secoriea’s parents and the community organizers wanted to keep social justice at the heart of the scholarship because of the circumstances around the child’s death. She was allegedly shot by armed men blocking the road near a Wendy’s where Brooks was killed by an Atlanta police officer in June 2020.
Officers had responded to calls about Brooks falling asleep in the drive-thru lane of the fast-food restaurant and, after speaking to him for about a half-hour, they tried to take him into custody. A struggle ensued and Brooks grabbed one of the officer’s Tasers and fired it, leading the other officer to fatally shoot him. The killing came less than a month after George Floyd’s murder by a Minneapolis police officer set off nationwide protests, some of which turned violent.
The Wendy’s was subsequently burned down and protesters set up an encampment at the scene. The group occupying the site refused to leave for weeks and negotiated with the Atlanta City Council to have the area transformed into a “peace park” in honor of Brooks.
After Secoriea’s shooting, a representative for the protesters said the suspected gunmen were not part of their group. The encampment was dismantled and protesters cleared out two days after the 8-year-old’s death.
Though many details about the scholarship remain unsettled, the funds will be managed by the Black Women’s Lab, a nonprofit sister organization to the Black Man Lab. The group’s executive director, Vanessa Cox-Logan, was emotional at the near-instantaneous outpouring of support.
“Black Women’s Lab was established for this very purpose, to create safe spaces and educate young women,” she told the AJC.
Cox-Logan said the group’s goal is to award its first scholarship soon, to someone with an interest in social justice who would be attending college this fall. Because Black Women’s Lab was only established in 2021, Cox-Logan said she would be leaning on the expertise of her counterparts at Black Man Lab to serve as custodian for the scholarship.
Credit: Ben Gray
Credit: Ben Gray
The fund will also accept donations from the public through their newly created website, fortheloveofsecoriea.com.
“While the Secoriea’s Social Justice Scholarship is still young, the family would like to give back to a college student that closely mirrors the best qualities displayed by Secoriea,” the website says. “Secoriea’s Social Justice Scholarship engages in providing monetary assistance to a young woman with a boundless spirit who strives to achieve social justice and has a positive impact on their community.”
Scholarship applicants must supply a 500-word essay on the ways their commitment to social justice will highlight Secoreia’s legacy.
