Sudanese Youth Flees Terror at Home to Meet Death in U.S.

Ring Paulino Deng survived civil war in his native Sudan, four years of slavery and an arduous escape that eventually took him on a 6,400-mile journey to the United States.

He died at age 19 with a knife in his chest outside the Nashville apartment where he had settled, the victim of a parking dispute.

Family and friends can’t believe his struggle ended this way.

“We thought the United States was safe,” said Deng’s cousin, Mabior Manyok.

Deng was stabbed to death June 8 when a fight broke out in the parking lot of a blue-collar apartment complex where he lived with his aunt, two cousins and grandmother. He had been in the United States only about a year and a half.

His relatives now worry what will become of his father and seven siblings who remain in Egypt, where they settled after fleeing Sudan. Deng had been sending much of his earnings back to his family in hopes they could someday join him in Nashville.

“He was the hope of the family,” said Kiir Akoi, another cousin.

In Nashville, Deng and his aunt and cousins moved into a tiny, two-bedroom apartment in a complex where many Sudanese refugees have settled, some drawn by friends and others encouraged to live there by charity workers and relocation agencies.

Deng relished his newfound freedom. At 6-foot-9, he dreamed of earning a college basketball scholarship and playing professionally. He enrolled in the ninth grade at Hillsboro High School and studied to perfect his English. But he soon dropped out to work more hours, gaining a full-time job at Wal-Mart.

As a boy in Sudan--the scene of an 18-year conflict between the Islamic government in the north and Christians and animists in the south--Deng was kidnapped by militia and sold into slavery with his brother and sister. Their father sold everything he owned to buy their freedom four years later. The family fled to Egypt, where they applied to immigrate to the United States, without success.

Deng’s aunt, Victoria Bol, also applied and included Deng in her application. The family arrived in the U.S. a few months later.

Relatives and friends who gathered in Bol’s apartment this week in preparation for Deng’s funeral Saturday were silent and somber. Bol sat wrapped in a blanket on the floor with her legs crossed, seemingly in a daze.

Manyok said Deng’s father was distraught when he heard of his son’s death.

The fight had broken out as Deng pulled into the apartment complex and blocked three other cars, Det. E.J. Bernard of the Nashville Murder Squad testified in court Friday.

Witnesses said there were at least 10 people involved in the melee. One of them, Raul Gonzalez Silva, 17, told police he stabbed Deng after Deng struck him in the head with a beer bottle. Silva is charged with criminal homicide in Deng’s death.