Tragedy Snuffs Out a Promising Life
On Sept. 6, 1997, PATRICK KEITH WASHINGTON told Voices that he spent his summer retaking contemporary composition, a class he failed the previous school year. His B grade restored his eligibility to play football, something that was very important to the young man, who later went on to graduate from Manual Arts High School. In a tragic twist of events, Washington was gunned down Nov. 9 at 111th and Normandie. MARY REESE BOYKIN spoke with DONNA WASHINGTON about losing her son.
*
It wasn’t like Patrick not to pick me up from work on time or at least to phone me. He was so reliable. But I thought: He was accepted as a substitute instructional aide in the LAUSD, so maybe he was getting his paperwork done. Or he was getting his physical to play football at Orange Coast College. Or maybe the tire, which had a nail in it, had gone out on the freeway. I was hoping and praying that those were the reasons that he didn’t pick me up.
When I got home, a lady called and asked, “Does your son drive a green car?” When I answered “yes,” she said that he was in an accident, that one of the two young men in the car was taken to L.A. County-USC Medical Center. She told me to call the Sheriff’s Office.
I called. After insisting they tell me what happened, I was told that the driver, who was taken to Martin Luther King-Drew Medical Center, had been shot and was dead. Seeing my baby on that gurney was like someone taking the breath out of my body. But I believe in the Lord and believe that His presence was with me.
Later, I learned that Patrick was killed at 111th and Normandie, an area he didn’t frequent. He had taken a friend to visit the friend’s girlfriend.
What hurts so bad is not knowing why my son was killed. The officers seem concerned; they were nice, but they have no information. They went door to door. Some residents slammed doors on them.
Patrick was my life. He fixed things around the house, looked out for us, took his sister to school. He didn’t complain. You know, a death doesn’t affect just one life; it affects many. Patrick’s 17-year-old brother is heartbroken. He and Patrick were like twins. Everything they did, they did it together.
Patrick’s death made me second-guess myself: “If only I could have afforded for him to move out, maybe he would be alive.” But a friend told me about the death of a young man in Seal Beach, who was killed by his friend. The world, not just the inner city, is corrupt.
I tell people with children to let their children know that they are loved. Somebody has got to love all of these children and teach them about the Lord.
No witnesses have come forth yet. I am soliciting reward money for information related to Patrick’s death. It bothers me that he was killed and I don’t know why or what for. Someone had to have seen something.
What will keep the killer from killing again?