A New York sanitation crew was making it’s routine garbage pickups in a section of Brooklyn June 18, 2006, when one crew member encountered an usually heavy load of garbage that also gave off an extremely foul odor. The Cops were summoned and they discovered a body of a young female. The gruesome corpse was later determined to be the remains of young teen Honer Student Chanel Petro-Nixon, left on a busy street corner to rot like common Trash. Her story unfortunately never achieved National Media attention, like that of Phylicia Barnes. Later on America’s Most Wanted Investigative Reporter, John Lieberman and then, the Rev. Al Sharpton took up the pretty little girl’s murder story to warm up an otherwise cold case. However, their efforts only gained local attention. This past June marked the 5th anniversary of the Nixon child’s death, and no one has ever been charged in connection with her killing. Chanel’s body, just like Phylicia Barnes’ who was found nude floating in a river, as if the girls lives were worthless, produces anger and outrage. Baring the intricate details related to their individual killings, we seem to find very little contrast in the character and development of these children. They were both from very structured homes, were among the top of their perspective classes academically, very attractive, and had never been in any kind of serious trouble prior to the tragedy that ended their lives. In murder cases it’s always a challenge to get individuals who may have knowledge about the case to come forward, do the right thing, and bring justice to the victims and their families. It’s troubling that two of our most educated children have been taken and the cowards responsible remain at large. The African American Community suffers from a serious decease that promotes silence in the face of evil. An evilness that could ultimately impact one of their very own children. Yet we remain apathetically resolved to say nothing, cower in our homes, and create an arena for the very nature of evil to exist. Some offer a seemingly emphatic rationalization that they do not want to die, and I understand this but we can not fear evil especially when the safety of our children are concerned.
Our community is sweltering with violence. Most of the victims in many of these sad and tragic stories are our children. To say that I am too afraid to speak out when evilness taps at my door within my community is simply a display of irresponsibility to our children and our families. To drive home the point that the “fear of death” mindset is nothing more than a mere rationalization used to escape personal responsibility, we can look at the reckless behavior that many adults engage in, and we see that death apparently is well below the list of priority related to personal safety. We know that the silence murder brings originates from society’s physiological trait of acceptance. We want to be popular, well liked, and the death of two studious little girls is meaningless when social acceptance is weighed. Sadly though, many of our people who profess to love God fail to act when they have information related to crime that could aid authorities in solving many of these cases. Several years ago I sat in the pews of the New Psalmist Baptist Church in Baltimore, Maryland, as Dr. Walter Scott Thomas gave a sermon to his congregation related to Christian responsibilities. On that Sunday morning the Pastor called upon his followers to take back their communities. Dr. Thomas highlighted his speech by asking the church, “How can a Christian say that they love God when they see drug dealers selling drugs right at their doorstep, and not pick up the phone and call the police”? I remember that sermon well, and the eerie silence that suddenly fell upon the congregation. I am not picking on Christians here, nor am I inferring that such civic responsibility falls solely on the shoulders of the followers of Christ. The point is that all of God’s People share the burden of righteousness and if for no other purpose but to defeat Satan. The killers of these children derived from the dregs of humanity, and they must be captured in the name of God and all of his people. Some where someone knows something about the deaths of these little girls and I plead with them to step forward and embrace all that is good and pure, do the right thing, and go to the police. Fear not the consequence of retribution, the terror associated with violence, the ridicule of others, and the stigma of the “stop snitching” culture. Fear no man, as their viciousness and evilness has no authority related to the destination of your soul. People would have to literally kill me, to stop me from speaking the truth, stop me from turning them in, and claiming victory in he name of God. It is clearly stated in the Holy Quran that, “Blessed is the Martyr who dies for the cause of righteousness and God. Bliss is his for all eternity”. I can’t stop thinking about a little girl named Chanel who simply wanted to find a job and hang out with her friends, or a little girl named Phylicia who just wanted to love somebody, and get to know her family. I can not image the details or the events that occurred during their final hour with us. Will you help us? Will you aid in seeking justice for our daughters? Will you claim victory in the name of God and all of our people?
Phylicia Simone Barnes Memorial crime reporting tip hotline: 1-800-492-8477 (toll free, anonymous)
Chanel Petro-Nixon Memorial (212) 614-6741 Tipline
The People’s Champion
I’m David Adams
