I’m not quite sure how long ago the Maryland State Division of Corrections asked the Federal Bureau of Investigations to conduct a covert investigations into the secret dealings behind the walls of the Baltimore City Detention Center (a.k.a Steel Side), but last week Federal Prosecutors dropped a bomb shell on the doorsteps of the office of the Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services when it revealed that an inmate was running the facility with the aid of female Corrections Employees. Through wiretapped phone conversations the agency learned that drugs and other forms of contraband were being smuggled inside BCDC by many of their own employees. In total 13 female Correctional Officers were taken into custody and booked at the Federal Court House in downtown Baltimore. The F.B.I. learned that the employees were successful in bringing drugs, cigarettes, and cellphones into the facility via checkpoints with lax security under the direction of an inmate held for murder charges name Tavon White. Standard protocol requires all personnel entering the facility to be frisked and physically patted down, from the Commissioner, the Wardens, and  on down to every Correctional Employee. It’s not uncommon for contraband to enter the facility at these locations because if the supervisor or Correctional Officer working the entry post is in on the illegal activity, the contraband gets inside unabated. Also, there are other entries to the jail that are considered soft areas which personnel receive minimal security scrutiny or encounters with supervision. Although the jail policy requires all Corrections personnel responding for duty to enter through the main entrance of the jail via the E. Eager Street entrance at the Command Center, the policy is rarely enforced. The Federal indictment spells out this exact scenario. Corrections personnel are also allowed to return to their vehicles in the middle of their shift, though the state has no written policy barring such activity, it’s a matter that should have been picked up on by the jail’s administration, especially for personnel who develop a pattern of exiting the facility during their shift to go to their cars, because contraband is often introduced to the facility during these instances. The indictment spells out a volume of narcotics being introduced to BCDC by various Corrections employees from 2009 up until the unsealing of the subject Federal indictment. Narcotics brought into the jail by jail guards were controlled substances, especially Schedule I and II semi-synthetic opioids such as oxycodone (including Percocet, OxyContin), Methadone, Buprenorphine (including Suboxone), and Schedule III and IV benzodiazepine drugs (including Xanax, Klonopin) and hydrocodone (including Lortab, Lorcet, Vicodin); as well as Marijuana. The kinds of controlled substances replete within BCDC is extremely alarming, and shows many of the jail’s detainees were more than likely high on a variety of feel good kinds of prescription drugs. The narcotics also tend to subdue patients in a variety of fashions chemically, and it’s simply unconscionable that Corrections employees were unable to detect telltale signs of inmates under the influence of some kind of substance. The inability of jail staff to not only identify inmates potentially under the influence, but an obvious culture of apathy existed, and indicates just how widespread  introduction of drugs and other contraband into BCDC appears to have been.  The obvious drug problem amongst BCDC inmates appear to have been the least of the jail’s concerns according to the Federal indictment. The investigation revealed a well organized enterprise that included Racketeering Conspiracy, Conspiracy to Contribute and Possess Drugs with Intent to Distribute Drugs, Possession with Intent to Distribute Drugs, Money Laundering Conspiracy, Aiding and Abetting, and all while within the confines of a state run Correctional facility where the main players were state employees, either active members, or associates of the notoriously violent “Black Gorilla Family Prison Gang.” The scheme was very elaborate when you consider no cash actually changed hands within BCDC. The State enacted new policies years ago prohibiting state inmates from being allowed to physically carry cash within a Correctional setting. Corrections employees smuggled cell phones into the facility which were used to make drug orders to BGF gang members outside the jail. The narcotics would then be turned over to jail guards who smuggled the drugs into the jail. Payments were made using reloadable prepaid credit cards, especially “Green Dot” cards which are available for purchase at a variety of retail establishments. It’s unclear whose the brain child the money laundering scheme originated from, but Feds say Tavon White ran the jail with consent from BCDC Administrators, with the understanding that he was to maintain order. The jail is known for it’s violence and it appears that the BCDC Administration made a deal with the devil, effectively condoning widespread drug solicitation and drug abuse to occur as a trade off to repel violence and disturbances within the facility. That assertion is mere rumor and speculation, but highly believable considering the fact that BCDC isn’t immune from the ballooning jail populations across the country where inmate populations out number prison staffs by the thousands. In fact, the kind of criminal enterprise that federal authorities say Tavon White ran at BCDC is old news. The institution has a storied past of illegal activity where high profile inmates have been able to successfully garner favors, and partner with Correctional staff who  smuggle drugs and other contraband into the facility. In 1998 “Drug Kingpin” Anthony Jones was recorded by the Feds in wiretapped conversations giving orders to have witnesses against him killed. Those calls were made on cellphones smuggled into the jail by Correctional Officers. Jones’ drug gang was one of the most notorious and violent within the state, with a body count of 23 homicides in which three were carried at his behest while being detained at BCDC. Federal Prosecutors unsuccessfully sought the death penalty in the Anthony Jones case, making him the first person the U.S. Government sought to kill via capitol punishment in the state of Maryland. In that same year another notorious “Drug Kingpin” name Liddy Jones got caught by the Feds trying to continue a drug enterprise while locked up at the jail. Just like Tavon White and Anthony Jones, Liddy recruited young Corrections Officers to pick up drugs from his girlfriend’s bail bonds business, and have it smuggled inside the BCDC facility. During the Liddy Jones ordeal, I recall a jail Shift Commander chastising Corrections staff during line up about staff having beaten Liddy up. The Captain asked the entire shift, “Of all the inmates in this building, why would anybody put their hands on that man”, I recall the incident as if it happened just moments ago, and denotes exactly how far up the chain of the jail’s administration some inmates are capable of reaching. Not to get off topic of this article’s main subject, but to drive home the point how much influence some inmates carry behind the walls of BCDC, one of the jail goons that beat up Liddy Jones was targeted by the Commissioner of Pretrial Detention and Services. The jail’s UI Unit (Internal Affairs) conducted a covert operation to set the officer up, but the plan was foiled when other employees unknowingly disrupted the operation. A plan had been set in motion to plant narcotics on the officer in an effort to have him fired. The Officer was a problematic employee who submitted Use of Forces multiple times a week. Some Corrections employees have worked in facilities for more that two decades and have never had to file such paperwork their entire career. Engaging in constant physical altercations with inmates usually only meant one thing. The guard has a hand problem. I have never witnessed his incidents of using force on inmates, probably because he was smart enough not to do it in my presence knowing I would never lie, but I have walked pass the officer while he was in heated dialogue with inmates, only to come back pass observing the inmate visibly crying, and agitated claiming the officer had struck him. BCDC’s administration could never catch the officer because his reports were always well written and fellow officers always backed up his stories. So, Commissioner Lamont Flannigan set him up to get rid of him. The plan failed and the Corrections officer who was suppose to make the plant whinded up placing the drugs on another jail guard. That officer also had a storied pass of being a dirty guard as well. He was arrested inside BCDC, walked next door to Baltimore City Booking Intake Center (BCBIC) and formally charge with narcotics possession, and introducing contraband into a State Correctional Facility. It wasn’t until weeks later during an inmate transportation detail, that the officer who planted the drugs explained to me that IU had screwed him over. The officer was white, had ambitions of joining the Investigative Unit for the department, and told me the entire plan. He told me drugs were given to him from the IU vault (where confiscated narcotics are kept awaiting destruction) solely for the purpose of planting them on a specific officer. He explained that he did it with the promise from BCDC IU Officials that they would help him gain entry to the Division of Corrections Investigative Unit and the officials reneged when he was unsuccessful in getting the drugs on the targeted officer. Strangely, those drugs that the officer was accused of having in his possession suddenly disappeared, and probably because they were placed back inside the IU vault exactly where the officer told me they had been taken from, and to maintain accountability for the vault’s inventory. Upon learning this I promptly notified the officer who had been falsely charged, gave a sworn deposition to his legal counsel, and aided the officer in successfully defending his case. That Officer eventually re-obtained his job and settled a civil suit against the state out of court (true story). The culture and vicious nature of personnel inside BCDC has always been one of love and hate. Jail Guards who act as goons (muscle) for the administration will at times become disciplined or targeted if they cross the line, like in the Liddy Jones beating. It’s an entirely different world behind the walls of BCDC and the current case is simply a continued pattern of corruption and criminal activity spearheaded by dirty jail officials who have a long history of similar wrong doing without any accountability what so ever. Word got around that I had blown the lid off of the IU’s dirty dealings and I was suddenly summoned to IU and informed that a confirmed threat on my life had been made by members of the Black Gorilla Family. A letter had been intercepted by Corrections Officials at the Maryland Corrections Institute in Jessup (MCIJ or the House) that contained vital information from my personnel file (i.e. home address, vehicle registration, etc.). I went straight to the Department of Justice after learning this, because it had become as personal as it gets. There would be a huge stumbling block initially, because I went to my Congressman Elijah Cummings to have his office facilitate my complaint with DOJ, and to my surprise I learned that was a huge mistake. It just so happened that journalist friends of mine advised me that the Congressman was in fact roommates with Commissioner Lamont Flannigan at Howard University. The Congressman’s staff stone walled me and gave me the run arounds until I brought to their attention that I knew Cummings and Flannigan had close ties, and threatened to go to the news media. My complaint was taken and the Congressman’s office facilitated a communication to the DOJ on my behalf, and I subsequently forwarded a volume of documents to the DOJ outlining the culture, and activities occurring inside the walls of BCDC. Some time went by and Flannigan was removed as Commissioner of pretrial Detention and Services. I would like to think that some of what I gave the Feds may have contributed to how the F.B.I. and other state agencies look at the administration at the Baltimore City Detention Center. Over the years I am sure similar criminal activity by Corrections employees and officials have occurred on a smaller scale that was probably utilized as a feather in the Feds cap, to learn whose who so they could catch much bigger fish down the road. Perhaps the patience in such a long term investigation is what makes this indictment such an incredible accomplishment by the Federal Government. They set by, watched, listened, and gathered sufficient evidence to obtain a sweeping indictment of corrupt Corrections Employees that is actually being felt as high as the Governor’s Office. The indictment outlines detailed events of multiple Corrections Employees, Inmates, and co-defendants outside of the jail manipulating security protocol to bring drugs and other contraband inside a Correctional Facility, and engaging in criminal enterprise through sex, material, racketeering and money laundering with the use of prepaid credit cards. The enterprise afforded the BGF leaders finances sufficient to purchase luxury cars for female corrections employees who the gang’s leader had fathered children with. The indictment literally spells out how Tavon White boasted in wiretapped phone conversations that he runs the jail, that everything comes through him, that he is the law in the jail, and he has the final word on everything. Now as disturbing as that may appear to many following this case, it’s even more alarming that females were impregnated by a known inmate gang leader, which means at some point they were physically on the job carrying babies that were conceived right there within the walls of the jail, and not one Corrections Employee or official had a clue what was going on. That’s simply unbelievable, unacceptable, and points to a more realistic perspective that people simply turned a blind eye to what was going on. It’s exacerbated even more realizing that some of these women actually carried two pregnancy terms by the exact same inmate. Moreover, Secretary Gary Maynard’s perception that most Corrections Employees are honest, hardworking employees with integrity is not credible what so ever. The volume of drugs and the various class of narcotics the indictment claims were brought into the jail is sufficient to demonstrate that people other than the BGF members and their associates had to have known something about this illegal activity. The rationalizations have already started surfacing that people knew and reported the activity, but jail officials turned a blind eye, did nothing, and were eventually silenced after having been labeled snitches. Some say people were just scared of potential violence being enacted upon them by the gang, so they just went to work ignored the activity so they could take care of their families, which is completely understandable, and could also be challenged with questions as to why they continued to come to work everyday in fear. It’s a said commentary when employees paid by the people on the right side of the law have become fearful of carrying out the duty of protecting the public from the worst within our society. Those who turn a blind eye are just as culpable as the various conspirators named in this indictment and are not worthy of the commissions they have been afforded to protect the people of the state of Maryland. In the wake of this sweeping Federal Indictment, the Secretary of Public Safety and Correctional Services has moved his departmental Headquarters from Towson, Maryland to the Baltimore City Detention Center in downtown Baltimore indefinitely. Secretary Gary Maynard has also ordered all Administrators at BCDC to undergo lie detector test in a bold an unprecedented move in which the integrity of every employee will now be under scrutiny, in an effort to take back the State run Baltimore City Detention from the Black Gorilla Family Prison Gang. To my former colleagues and friends who remain at BCDC, remember me, and remember that I never turned my eyes away when the call came to lift up the people in justice and righteousness. God be with you all!   “Never, never be afraid to do what’s right, especially if the well-being of a person or animal is at stake. Society’s punishments are small compared to the wounds we inflict on our soul when we look the other way.” ― Martin Luther King Jr.

Indictment by Erin Fuchs

The People’s Champion
I’m David Adams

Once upon a time in our society people who practice gay life or alternative lifestyles were afraid to make their sexual preference known publicly. The ridicule of homosexuals was so immense that people dared not expose who they truly are out of fear of being ostracized, attacked, and cast out of vast social settings that did not condone such a phenomenal human trait. Those days are long gone as gay life marches to the forefront of modern society demanding acceptance and acknowledgement. I’ve known gay people my entire life and my tolerance of them was something I honestly and admittedly had to learn. The learning curve occurs once an individual has had the opportunity to talk with a gay person, learning for themselves that they are in fact human beings also. For me, such a feet took a long time. I was never taught to dislike gays by my parents, but rather society’ perception of them as being among the dregs of society was the norm during my conformity, and like most people within sub-cultural settings I adopted the mindset that such behavior was wrong, ungodly, and a psychiatric condition. As I matured my tolerance for gay people grew, while understanding that as a human being everyone possess deficiency in some way, are sinners, and fall short of God’s guidance. The desire to love whom one chooses should never be prohibited by subjective perspective, ignorance, and prejudice. I truly believe that people can’t help who they fall in love with because such emotion derives from the heart, and lies within the plateau of the purist realms of the human soul. I hold these beliefs predicated on the foundation of what I know to be the natural characteristics on mankind, but the desire of sexual satisfaction by humans via same sex is unnatural, and an unknown phenomenon. The human family has always resolved to faith or one’ own belief and understanding of life to make sense of life’s unexplained events. Theology has always been the primary reference for most to dissolve such delimma, and rightfully so as the word of God gives an explicit perspective on this kind of human behavior. I won’t bore the faint at heart with cliche about “God made Adam and Eve, and not Adam and Steve” because this subject matter deserves a more intellectual indulgent, rather than the coarse tongue of shame and blame upon those who live in sin just like us. Although we can not attack gays for going against God’s word simply because we are all sinners, the astute understanding that the lives of all people parallel in regards to salvation should not be a scapegoat to promote the practice of ungodly behavior (i.e. homosexuality), and it is the duty of righteous people no matter who, and where they are to readily identify that which is in fact ungodly. In fact I believe that society as a whole has allowed for far too much lenience and tolerance for homosexual behavior. In many instances, gay tolerance has only been extended for the purpose of maintaining civility, peace, and compassion for one’s right to individuality. The love of peace has always been a major factor allowing for the very existence of gay life. Now I know people will say that’s classic homophobia. However, it’s extremely interesting that the clinical psychologist associate everything people within society reject and detest as a persistent fear. The term homophobia is more commonly attached to the male species pertaining to other men who are gay. No consideration appears to have been given to the true nature of a man considering the topic of homosexuality. Feminine traits and characteristics of men will always be rejected, frowned upon, and met with an adverse disposition from straight men because such behavior is in direct contrast to the chemical, psychological, and natural egotistical chemistry of the authentic male species. Fear has absolutely nothing to do with the rejection of gays by straight men. What we see here is a form of psychology by so called professionals attempting to carve a pathway so that straight men develop less hostility toward gays in an effort to garner acceptance for those within a social class who have long been cast out of mainstream society. I will be the first to admit that name calling such as faggots, punks, and other innuendo toward gays is cruel and simply ignorance at it’s best. In my opinion the best resolve for the gay debate is to allow for gay people to be dealt with by their maker. I realize that I am a sinner and know that the term of life for me will eventually reach it’s expiration with a certain atonement awaiting in the balance, but I will never accept homosexuality, while never infringing upon the desire and rights of those who are gay. I see gay life as a complete abomination of God’s word and as long as there are people who exist within our global society who know, love, and trust God’s word, homosexuality will never be completely accepted in this world. Unlike President Obama, I refuse to project a posture of complete tolerance for that which I know and believe to be ungodly simply to appease the masses. How can any God Fearing person stand behind the President’s position? When the President of the United States boast about a professional athlete revealing his professed gay life, as if it’s a badge honor, we can only conclude that the moral conscious of our nation  has disappeared entirely. The current media bliss and rave about gay rights taking center stage in our society has been made possible by the revelation of those in power who now feel comfortable exposing their appetite for same sex desires. An intelligent piece of advice for gays who want to come out of the closet would be to tread lightly, as there are many within our society who have not matured socially, and perhaps may never develop any tolerance for your way of life whatsoever. This is a harsh reality that the gay community must come to grips with, that they will never be completely accepted within our society

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

Those who came to finally witness closure in the grueling murder trial of Michael Johnson for killing Honors Student Phylicia Barnes were gravely disappointed, as Judge Alfred Nance revealed in a Baltimore Circuit Court today that Johnson would receive a new trial. Johnson was scheduled to be sentenced today after having been previously convicted of second degree murder by a Baltimore Jury, but on February 22, 2013 his defense counsel filed an appeal motion for a new trial based on newly discovered evidence that the state failed to disclose important information regarding it’s star witness James McCray. McCray testified during the trial that Johnson had summoned him to the northwest Baltimore apartment where the Barnes teen had been staying with her sister Deena Barnes, showed him the pretty teens lifeless body, and solicited McCray’s help in disposing of her remains. During McCray’s testimony he inaccurately stated the time in which the alleged killing of Barnes had occurred. McCray testified that Johnson called him to the apartment a few days before Christmas, but Barnes actually disappeared on December 28, 2010, three days after the Christmas holiday. McCray also inaccurately stated that the apartment Johnson led him to was on the second floor of the building, and that statement was wrong also, as Deena Barnes’ was actually on the basement level. The jury apparently gave no weight to McCray’s inaccuracies and convicted Johnson anyway. When news first broke that the state suppressed evidence regarding what correctional facility McCray was housed in, a juror notified the news media and refuted Johnson’s defense claim that McCray’s credibility was problematic and his testimony had prejudiced the jury against him. The Defense argued that the state failed to accurately report which correctional facility McCray was housed in and that his testimony only offered what had already been broadcast on t.v. The defense’ claim was crucial because during the trial the state produced documentation from Charles County authorities that McCray was in custody during the Barnes murder investigation without access to the internet. However, McCray was in fact housed at the Charles County Detention Center, The Montgomery County Detention Center, and the Baltimore County Detention Center respectively, while the later two correctional facilities would have afforded McCray some form of media access. Moreover, the juror who contacted Baltimore Sun News Reporter Justin Fenton, advised that the jury’s decision to convict Michael Johnson had nothing to do with James McCray’s testimony, but rather was mostly due to the wiretap telephone conversations that Johnson made with family and friends. The juror cited that the fact Michael Johnson never once expressed his innocence in killing the Barnes teen, and only discussed how much time he would have to serve for a 1st degree murder conviction, verses a 2nd degree murder conviction, and his contemplating fleeing the country to avoid prosecution for killing Barnes all together. In Judge Nance’ decision he outlines the fact “though the defendant isn’t necessarily due a perfect trial, he his entittled to a fair one, and the trial fails to meet that standard.” Read Judge Alfred Nance’ Decision and Order below:

[iframe src=”http://www.thepeopleschampion.me/docs/nancedecision.pdf” width=”600″ height=”800″]

The state’ failure to accurately report where it’s star witness was being held during the entire Barnes murder investigation is a horrible element of this entire senseless tragedy and will further delay or void all together justice for the Mustafa family who lost their beautiful daughter to violence in the streets of Baltimore. Whether the disclosure of documents pertinent to the case were intentionally suppressed by prosecutors or other wise, Johnson for now has gained new life in his quest for freedom and being acquitted of having killed Barnes. Though Nance’ order grants Johnson a new trial, he is not exactly acquitted of his 2nd degree murder conviction, and is not being released pending his new trial. The most disturbing aspect of these revelations is that Johnson can no longer face 1st degree murder charges because he was initially acquitted of that charge, and any prosecution of a 1st degree murder charge would be deemed double jeopardy. The Judges ruling will also guarantee that even if Johnson is convicted a second time for killing Barnes, he will one day be back on the streets. A very sad commentary indeed. There will be more to come as these disturbing events in the Phylicia Barnes murder case continue to develop.

Janice Mustafa has fought a tough battle seeking justice for her beautiful daughter, and with accused killer Michael Johnson being granted a new trial by a Baltimore Circuit Court judge today, her struggle continues in finding who killed Phylicia Barnes.

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

They will bring flowers, the piano will play sad songs, and the preacher man will speak to ease the pain within the hearts of those who knew and loved young Jonylah Watkins at her funeral services in the coming days. Sadly, another black child has fallen to the perverse sickness of violent culture that permeates within the African-American communities of our nation. The 6 month old baby has succumbed to five gunshot wounds she suffered in a hail of gunfire intended for her father, who was also injured in a cowardly attack while he changed the infant child’s diaper on a Chicago street last week. The incident was just another routine shooting that many have become accustomed to in the Woodlawn section of south Chicago, as the mechanism of death churns on indiscriminately in one of the most violent cities of America. The child’s killing is not only shocking but demonstrates how death may come without warning, hesitation, nor any provocation. It seems as if death had it’s eyes set upon this child long before her mom gave birth to her. Nearly a year prior to the shooting that took Jonylah’s life, her mother was also shot in the leg while she was 8 months pregnant. Chicago is notorious for gang activities and some reports surfaced that the shooting may have been sparked by a feud over a facebook post or local gang related activity. Then again, we must be cautious of how police quickly label  the motives for crimes inflicted upon people of color. Blacks who fall prey to violent crimes, particularly black males, are often identified with gangs, drugs, and other violence solely because they have had previous encounters with police. It also indicates that police are readily prepared to downplay such heinous acts of violence against young black children as if their victimization is somewhat justified because of the actions of their parents. Many tragic cases just like this one are ushered into a backlog of homicides under the presumption of gang affiliation long before the facts have come squarely into focus. The black community is well aware of the manner in which cops typically handle murder cases of black children, but we can no longer accept the ineptness of police when black babies are continuously dying at alarming numbers, and a movement of community policing must now take the reigns in an effort to quell an epidemic of murderous violence upon black children. It speaks volumes when a person makes a conscious decision to pick up a gun and deliberately shoot another human being, but  when such an act is committed when the intended targeted is with a child while his back is facing the shooter, we can only resolve by accurately describing such an action as complete cowardice. It’s easy to simply kill someone when your soul is void of conscious and your heart is filled with darkness and despair. Civilization revile such actions as deeds of the ungodly, yet at the same time society manifest a vast congregation of people who in fact profess to know and love God, but often times harbor, assist, and protect the very satanic spirit of death, destruction, and unrighteousness of violent criminals that brutally slay God’s phenomenal gift of life. We don’t know the circumstances that led up to the shooting that took the life of this newborn baby, but I am certain someone knows who committed this horrific act, and those who know while remaining silent is just as culpable, ungodly, and significantly responsible for the culture of violence that plagues our society. The mindset that black people foster by not wanting to get involved because of fear, street credibility, and apathy is unacceptable pure bullshit. The black community would rather stand by silent allowing gun toting thugs to rule the streets where our children live and play, instead of proactively getting involved to secure the prosperity and safety of our very own children. Let’s face it, children are not dying at a rate of biblical proportions within other ethnic groups around the globe, and the killing of black children at the hands of other black people is a black problem, plain and simple. Some will come decrying the plight of blacks in America while citing drugs, guns, and other agents of destruction only find their way into black communities by enemies of our people, solely for the purposes of oppression, emasculation, and the hindrance of the black community’ development.  History demonstrates very clearly that the life of a black child is meaningless, and evidenced by the lack of mainstream media coverage of horrific crimes such as this case. Black on black violence has become the norm for urban communities around the country in the post civil rights era, and other ethnic groups who once supported the struggles of Black America has since abandoned our people  because we are considered animals as depicted by our behavior toward each other, violent behavior in general, and the perpetuation of black on black violence continues to add credibility to such a perspective now held by many outside of the black community. I am sure I will find many takers from Black Nationalist groups interested in debating this issue, but the fact remains that on an ordinary day within any black community in America, a black baby could fall to gun violence at the hands of another black man’s child, just like young Jonylah Watkins did, and for no other provocation other than dispute regarding a comment on social media. The killing of any child so young is unconscionable, but with the toxic culture of violence now playing out in Chicago resulting in the death of black youth at such an alarming rate, an urgency of change related to how black people respond to violence within our community must now swiftly arrive, and until such a revolution develops within urban black communities we will continue to see our children perish on the streets of this land. Point them out and call them by their name, because tomorrow it could be your child laying on a slab in a city morgue.

Sources:

NBC News

Huffington Post

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

Charlie LeDuff is an award winning journalist who wrote about a police shooting that killed a 7-year-old little girl named Aiyana Stanley-Jones one night in Detroit nearly 3 years ago. The little girl was asleep on the sofa with her grandmother when a police swat team expelled a stun-grenade into the front window of their home while simultaneously kicking in the door, firing a single gunshot into the house, and killing young Aiyana instantly. In the confusion of it all, conflicting stories emerged regarding what led to the child’s death. While police reports claim the child’s grandmother engaged in a confrontation with police, causing a gun to discharge accidentally killing the little girl, details soon revealed that the official version of how Aiyana actually died was nothing short of pure fabrication on the part of Detroit’s finest. The police were conducting a no-knock search warrant for a murder suspect named Chauncey Owens who had been named by an informer as the person who killed 17-year-old Re’Jean Blake Nobles pertaining to a recent homicide case. The swat team conducting the warrant that night was being trailed by an A&E Television Network crew, filming an episode of “The First 48 hours”. There has since been concern that cops may have intentionally dramatized the scene that night to help bolster viewership of the show at the behest of television producers. It seems plausible that gun toting cops engaged in a pseudonym high threat warrant search solely for T.V. promotion purposes. It has since been confirmed that the informer who named Owens as the alleged suspect, had previously advised cops that children lived at the home. Police even walked past toys strewn in the yard of the home when they conducted the raid. There was one other disturbing factor as well. The cops had the wrong house.

The home on Lillibridge street in Detroit where 7-year-old Aiyana Jones was killed is a duplex clearly marked with two addresses. The suspect Chauncey Owens lived in the upstairs flat, but cops raided the unit on the right where young Aiyana lived.

After realizing that Aiyana had been shot, cops snatched up the child’s lifeless body like a rag doll, hustled her outside of the home, and attempted to resuscitate her on the sidewalk. It’s very confusing to understand why trained law enforcement personnel would move a shooting victim, when they experience such trauma all the time, and know  such critically wounded victims should never be moved until qualified Emergency Medical Technician (EMT) personnel arrive at the scene to properly assess the severity of the victims injuries, a rudimentary practice within police agencies nationwide. To add insult to injury, the child’s distraught grandmother who had just witnessed cops shoot her grandchild was arrested and charged with obstruction of justice among other charges. This is how cops on the scene that night wrote their official reports and the media has ran with this account ever since.

Although the cop’s version of what happened that night depicted a grandmother attempting to grab police officer Joseph Weekley’s gun resulting in Aiyana’s killing, they have never offered a creditable explanation why she would even do so, when considering that the suspect they were looking for didn’t even live in the house the cops raided. Some how for unknown reasons, police on the scene that night decided to conspire a cooked up story blaming the little girl’s grandmother for causing her death. The entire event demonstrates how police have the ability to falsify official reports to suit their interest. The life of a 7-year-old little black girl meant nothing to Detroit police when it became clear that it’s agency would come under fire with severe scrutiny once details related to Aiyana’s killing became public. Whether young Aiyana’s killing was accidental or not, any unarmed child killed by police gunfire is simply unconscionable, but perhaps the most disturbing factor related to this case is the fact that none of the reported 15 sworn police officers on the scene that night had the desire, integrity, and courage to truthfully report what actually happened to an innocent child.

It wasn’t until the Jones family retained Geoffrey Fieger, the flamboyant, brass-knuckled lawyer who represented Dr. Jack Kevorkian—a.k.a. Dr. Death, that the truth related to how Aiyana actually died came to the surface. Fieger went on an all out assault against Detroit PD accusing the department of outright lying about what happened the night Aiyana was killed. Fieger reportedly had been allowed to view an A&E Network film captured during the raid on the Lillibridge street home where Aiyana lived with her grandmother, and showed officer Weekley firing into the house immediately after he kicked the door open from a position on the porch outside of the house. Everyone on the scene that night including the film crew reported that only a single gunshot was fired that night. The film demonstrates that the police version of events could not possibly have occurred, that cops had lied, falsified reports, and locked up the child’s grandmother without cause after she had just witnessed cops shot her innocent grandchild. Although the intended suspect Chauncey Owens was arrested in the upstairs of the adjacent unit, police and the media continued to falsely report that he was actually captured in the upstairs of the house where the little girl was killed, seemingly corroborating the account that the grandmother was attempting to hinder Owens’  arrest. The image above shows that the two units were marked and clearly separate dwellings. Plain and simple, the police’s actions on the night young Aiyana was killed was nothing short of a complete, utter, and colossal “fuck up”, as one Detroit police official put it.

When Fieger gave interviews with the media, Aiyana’s grieving parents sat along side him, while her grandmother tearfully recounted the nights she spent locked up in a jail cell, and described the savagery, viciousness and callousness of Detroit police who killed an innocent little girl without having enough manhood to admit what they had done. It wouldn’t be until over a year later that officer Joseph Weekley would be charged with involuntary manslaughter, a weak watered down attempt at giving Aiyana’s family some sort of justice for her unprovoked killing. Postponements after postponements has the little girl’s grieving family held hostage while they wait for justice in yet another senseless killing of a black child. The case of Aiyana Jones has taken on all sorts of twist and turns since she died. Disputes over what happened continued, and even media question if Fieger actually saw a film captured that night, but what is clear is that young Aiyana is gone from us forever.

Moreover, journalist Charlie LeDuff writes a 6 page blog article months later offering a variety of factors unrelated to the cop shooting that killed Aiyana, as other prominent factors as to what actually killed the child. LeDuff’s bleeding heart, I love Detroit patriotism, and laced with other typical white media bullshit styled news reporting only served to depict him as a whining little bitch, yearning for the days that once were his thriving beloved hometown. The long venting diatribe went on and on about Detroit’s booming good old days within the famed “Motor City”. A city in which he himself admittedly abandoned during the era of Detroit’s financial collapse. When the pulse of America’s motor industry closed up shop in Detroit, whites who lost their blue collar jobs flee from a town which has since become predominantly black. LeDuff rants in his article about Detroit’s troubles, like it’s police department, educational system, city government, other municipal establishments, and while dully noting that such financial strife befell upon Detroit under black leadership. He even offers disturbing detail regarding the misdeeds of black politicians and other city officials. Though his disclosure of many of these incidents are in fact news worthy to the public, it’s clear the article has an undertone that Aiyana’s death was bound to happen, because the environment of a financially strapped, violent, and decaying town like Detroit was simply to toxic for a little black girl and other children to even exist. LeDuff writes with explicit detail about the conditions of some homesof black people he visited while researching this story, the decaying homes all across the city, how Owens’ alleged murderous act having been the reason while cops was even at Aiyana’s house in the first place ultimately resulting in her death, and the violence that plagues cities just like Detroit all over the country.

I admit LeDuff’s article “What Killed Aiyana Stanley-Jones” is a good read, it’s obvious he attempts to dance around the fact that a black child was killed at the hands of a Detroit police officer, and not because of lingering domestic strife resulting from failures within city government as his article infers. Articles like LeDuff’s only perpetuates stereotypes regarding African-Americans within inner cities. In particular, I am troubled by the notion LeDuff offers when he quotes a question that he posed to Aiyana’s father, asking “do you think the way you lived contributed to your daughter’s death.” That perspective literally attempts to negate what happened to the child while trying to rationalize that Aiyana’s death was a direct result of her environment which she had absolutely no control over. It’s insulting and undermines the tragedy which fell upon this innocent little girl.  I am sure many from within the public just like me are disturbed by the violent culture that exist within many urban communities, but many are also mindful of exactly what produces such violence as well. Unless you have lived it and experienced poverty along with all of the unfortunate negativity that it brings, perhaps finger pointing is nothing more that one’s own depiction of self-righteousness when looking at the plight of poor people from the outside. Not everyone flee from Detroit during it’s unraveling, and I find it simply insulting, whether LeDuff is a native of Detroit or not, that he can reemerge years later swaying his “greater than thou” pen around while casting negative light on black people living in Detroit who are in their own right, victims of a systemic culture of corruption, and poor city government themselves.

It’s amazing how many people, mostly arrogant whites, can readily identify struggles within the African-American community without offering solutions to many of the problems that exist. LeDuff’s article isn’t lacking continuity related to serious social, economical, and political disparity within Detroit’s black community, but it’s also void of any proactive contribution which could bring about change in struggling cities like Detroit either. While it was interesting to learn about many of the struggles that Detroit citizens now face, the fact remains that young Aiyana Jones was killed by a Detroit police officer without any justification what so ever. Media attempts to convey any other scenario to the contrary only falls flat on it’s face, solely because Michigan State Officials apparently saw what Geoffrey  Fieger had alleged all along, otherwise he probably wouldn’t have been charged in the little girl’s killing. More importantly, Weekley nor any of the other cops on the scene the night Aiyana was killed can justify firing a weapon into a home where children lived without establishing a creditable threat to cops entering the home. It’s very interesting how charges have now come against officer Weekley once Detroit police, and Michigan State police obtained a copy of the film the A&E crew captured that night. Detroit is plagued with violence just like many other cities in America, but the death of Aiyana Jones wasn’t because of these monumental struggles, it was because of one cop who “fucked up”, and to infer that her death is merely simple collateral damage resulting in criminal behavior of adults related to the child is simply absurd. I am appalled by any violence that results in the life of any human being, but I am even more appalled by rogue cops that kill innocent children without provocation, and attempt to cover it up. It’s just sad to see that an award winning journalist, a gatekeeper of society, has failed to objectively interpret this senseless and tragic story that resulted in the unnecessary death of an innocent little girl name Aiyana Jones. Though I have never looked at this case from a perspective of race, I can’t help but think about how this case would have unfolded if Aiyana was a white kid, and Weekley was a black cop.

 
The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

As I walked through the halls of the Maryland State Police & Corrections Training Commission in Woodstock, Maryland, while a Corrections Cadet in Class 95-22, I had confidence that I would make an impact on the job with a thorough understanding of the training which had been instituted prior to my rookie class being assigned to “Steel Side” (Baltimore City Detention Center). BCDC at the time, and in many respects, continues to be the worst Pretrial Correction Facility in the state of Maryland. The state had taken over the financially troubled institution which was formerly known as the “Old Baltimore City Jail” several years prior to my assignment. I experienced troubles with the agency long before I even opened a Training Manual at the academy, when a State Police Lieutenant sought to dismiss my hiring. Questions were raised about my suitability for hiring when officials attempted to contact me at my residence, and cited what they referred to as an offensive voice mail recording as grounds for disqualifying my eligibility for employment. The recording simply had rap music in the background, and apparently aroused prejudice by hiring unit employees (white people), who attempted to scrap my assignment. After learning about these activities I contacted my State Senator Ralph Hughes, and expressed concern regarding what appeared in my mind to be obvious discrimination practices within the agency’ hiring process. Hughes wrote the Director of Public Public Safety & Correctional Services, and I received a phone call the very next day to join my class for Orientation and Training at BCDC the following week. The encounter only served to remind me how the slightest appearance of negativity of any kind could hinder a black man from civil service employment opportunities. This mirrors former LAPD Officer Joe Jones’ account he revealed in his manifesto, when he described a similar incident of harassment while a cadet in the LAPD Police Training Academy. Jones describes being told, and encouraged to quit because he didn’t belong there, simply because he was black. I soon forgot about the incident and simply attributed racism to the efforts to disqualify me, but I was completely ignorant to the horrors which would follow many tours of duty that changed my life for ever, and haunts me to this day. I am not certain whether state officials sabotaged my job, and set me up for the horrific journey I was about to embark upon, but looking back on everything I experienced, there is very compelling evidence that this is exactly what may have occurred. After graduation most agencies require cadets to undergo on the job training specifically targeted toward their site specific assignments. We received weapons training, the use of chemical agents like CN & CS (nasty shit), pepper spray, tazer weapons, and other tactic training utilized in quelling mass disturbances within a correctional facility. Other hands on training was obtained through the grit of shakedowns and direct inmate contact that often resulted in the use of force to control violent encounters with agitated prisoners. It was rough, violent, and often times necessary work to maintain the security integrity of the facility. We also received extensive training in the management of aggressive behavior (a must considering we are dealing with murderers, rapist, and some of the very worst kind of people within all of society). Some say these tactics are appropriate solely because criminals are the dregs of society and are in fact deserving of brutal and harsh treatment, but as a Corrections officer my job was only custody, care and control of inmate populations. In many Prison environments inmates have already been punished by the criminal justice system and exist in these institutions to pay their debt to society. A CO is never the judge, jury, and executioner. Our job is to maintain correctional facilities while protecting society by insuring that violent criminals don’t escape and re-enter communities and repeat violent acts. Although the use of force is often authorized to control violent inmates and other disturbances, such violence has it’s limits. Correctional agencies have their own standards of force, but for the most part they are all universal in terms of the extent to which such force can be carried out. Using force on inmates should never exceed what is only necessary to control any violent act or the situation. Once the inmate has been subdued and properly restrained, any use of force should cease. At least that’s what we were trained to do, but the reality is that many situation where Corrections Officials utilize force, the extent of force typically used far exceeds what is allowed by agency’s policy and the law. This is where I drew the line, resulting in myself being characterized as an inmate lover, and effectively becoming a pariah outcast from the blue line brotherhood. Perhaps such a characterization of me was appropriate if you buy into the allegiance to a “Blue Wall Code of Silence”, which seeks to cover up official misconduct by law enforcement personnel who are sworn to uphold the law. I never bought into that bullshit way of thinking simply because each man should be held accountable for his own actions. I think most would agree that they should be required to falsify official reports to save a co-workers ass who lost it, and beat a man into a fucking coma. However, some have the mindset that inmates are criminals and should be treated harshly because of their crimes. That’s for the courts and the law of the land to met out when dealing with criminal behavior in our society. It’s not as simple as that though. What I have experienced is clearly a deliberate abuse of authority predicated on mere pseudo machoism, and some sort of sick adrenalin rush of getting off on brutality and desire to inflict severe bodily harm upon another human being for pleasure. My failure to tow the blue line resulted in continuous harassment, threats, agency discipline, and a documented attempted on my life spearheaded by the very people I worked along side in an extremely volatile environment. I’ll never forget the day I was summoned to IU (Investigations Unit) which is the equivalent to a police agency’ IAD (Internal Affairs Division). I recall thinking while in route, what they were planning to throw at me next. Upon my arrival I was briefed by a Major, that a letter had been intercepted by Corrections Officers from MCIJ (Maryland Correctional Institution In Jessup) detailing a plot on my life by an inmate was serving a sentence at that institution. MCIJ had been monitoring the inmate’s mail because he was a known member of the Black Gorilla Family (Largest Black Prison Gang in the country). The letter originated from an inmate housed at BCDC. The BCDC inmate was awaiting trial for murdering one of my family members, and for brutally stabbing a female relative of mine. The letter he sent to his brother at MCIJ requested my killing, and the silencing of my family members who would testify against him during his criminal trial. The more shocking aspect of the death threat wasn’t his plan to kill me, because he was a violent inmate, and I understood the nature from which such a desire derived. I was more disturbed by the fact his letter contained vital information which could have resulted in the death of me and my family if not for the fact that Correctional Officers did their jobs by sending the intercepted letter to the appropriate authorities, and in effect foiling this death threat attempt. My accurate home address, my vehicle make, model, and registration was included in the letter as tools to aid in appropriately identifying me for this threat. Inmates have limited resources while in custody and since I had few associates on the job I interacted with outside of work, that information could only have been obtained by someone who had access to my personnel records within the facility. The incident raised the bar for me understanding the level of sickness embodied in the minds of these wicked bastards who hold authority within the criminal justice system in Maryland. Some people have berated me for not conforming to the culture within my agency and cite the fact that correctional environments are so dangerous that personnel must stick together, and that violent force is only necessary to instill fear into inmates who out numbered staff at the time, 950 to 1. This perspective has some merit when considering alarming prison population statistics, but the unnecessary beating of inmates often times for no other provocation than he may have simply given a CO a hard time, doesn’t qualify as a sound or proactive tool to overcome personnel safety within correctional institutions. Many of the brutal beatings I observed entailed between 11-15 Correctional officers stomping and brutalizing one single inmate. Additional, I have stood in role-call witnessing Commanding Officers directing Correctional Staff to make certain that any inmate who assaults a staff member, is beat so severely that his injuries require his immediate transport to shock trauma (true story). I have always had concern that such beatings would one day result in the death of an inmate, and that it would be some how justified with the use of established protocol of doctoring false reports on what actually occurred. What many from the public are unaware of, is that it’s common practice for law enforcement officials to “write together”, meaning that they conspire to cook reports to mirror each other, and because they are constables of a jurisdiction the reports are deemed accurate as a standard operation procedure and institutional policy. Also, any person who fails to go along with these practices are generally dealt with swiftly, and effectively as Christopher Dorner was in his departmental hearings. The use of intimidation, alienation, and other measures such as bad job performance reviews and continued harassment becomes the order of the day when personnel find themselves standing on the other side of the blue line. The culture of weeding out non compliant personnel usually results in the person quitting or being unjustly fired from the job, and the actions are typically upheld during Administrative hearings and other Appellate processes. At the end of the day, when I hear about cases similar to the Christopher Dorner incident, I am naturally suspicious at first glance because of my own experience blue line culture. Dorner’s story reeks with foul air on every level. Let me be clear, I would never support the killing of innocent people as a cure for racial disparity or any other injustice, even if it derived from within the ranks of the very people empowered to protect the public, and uphold the law. The problem with Dorner’s case is that his former police agency has a deplorable record on human relations departmentally as well as within the public at large, and can not be met with credibility simply because they allege a crime has occurred. There is no evidence publicly to support that he actually killed anyone. In every instance in which Christopher Dorner was alleged to have committed these murders, reports only indicated that witnesses say that the perpetrator fit Dorner’s description. Cops reported to the media that they found Dorner’s personal identification in a dumpster, showed a video of him discarding something in the trash, and eventually said his drivers license was found inside the cabin once the fire had been extinguished. The scenario they paint for the public is very problematic. First, Dorner who was deemed a psychopathic killer bent on enacting revenge on former fellow LAPD officers, strangely flees to a camping ground area in California, goes out in a blaze of glory during a gun fight like Custard’s last stand, and the public is suppose to accept these official reports as the truth. Secondly, they say five years after he was fired he just simply went nuts and began to come after the people who were responsible for ending his career. I am sorry that I am not intelligent enough to comprehend these official reports, but what I do know is the events that let up to this man’s unraveling as a sane law enforcement officer, and military veteran more than likely originated from constant persecution after having tried to be responsible while doing his job. No one will dispute that Christopher Dorner had other options to heal what ailed him regarding the upheaval he encountered from LAPD, but the impact that stresses have on those of us who have walked the blue line are immeasurable, and the lack of necessary Post Traumatic Stress Disorder treatment as a standard for troubled law enforcement personnel is perhaps the greatest failure to America’s Criminal Justice System. So don’t tell me about so called rogue cops who kill, if you even believe any of that crap, because I know. I have lived it, felt it, and breathed it. Had I not possessed the mental toughness to overcome persecution and injustice from a corrupt agency, I could have been Christopher Dorner. In my mind Christopher Dorner is just another casualty of a shitty, racist, and corrupt system of policing and government double standard of the law. OFFICER DOWN!!!

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

I decided to publish this article after Michael Johnson was convicted of killing 16-year-old honors student Phylicia Barnes. I along with most people who followed her tragic story,  we were hoping that charges would be pursued against Deena Barnes after she admitted under oath that she allowed Phylicis to drink alcohol and ingest drugs. Also a sex video was played in the courtroom 3 times which is incriminating evidence and clearly child pornography, child abuse, and sexual exploitation. I am bringing awareness to the public by creating a petition, blogging, and getting in touch with Maryland department of social services officials. Deena needs to be held accountable because if it wasn’t for her reckless behavior Phylicia would probably still be alive. Deena’s admission under oath that she witnessed Michael Johnson attempting to touch her private area, not taking any action what so ever, and also allowing him to have continued access to this child in my mind is grounds for child endangerment charges alone. Here are my thought:

After an emotional 12 day trial, Michael Maurice Johnson was convicted of 2nd degree murder the killing of 16 year old honors student Phylicia Simone Barnes. Justice was somewhat served, but the conviction feels bittersweet as many feel true justice wasn’t fully obtained. Many hearts remain broken with heavy emotions as people are still pondering over and over, why anyone would want to murder this sweet, beautiful, and promising teenage girl. There are no words nor explanations that can even begin to fathom why she was actually murdered in cold blood, heartlessly, and dumped into that lonely, cold, freezing river ( the longest river on the American East Coast) in such a horrible fashion. As Johnson’s 2nd degree murder conviction starts to sink in, a lingering dark cloud remains.  Surely, within the hearts and minds of everyone who followed her story, we continue to wonder what could have possibly been done to prevent this tragedy from occurring. Her story was so devastating that it reached millions internationally, and touched the hearts of parents all around the world. We are constantly reminded about the events that caused the untimely demise of our precious young sister Phylicia Barnes, and the fact that this entire ordeal begins and  ends on the doorsteps of her older half-sister Deena Marie Barnes. I will never forget  when news first broke that Phylicia had gone missing. This image instantly captured my heart: I just felt a connection with her from the very start as if she waere my little sister. I hoped and prayed along with  millions of others, she would be found safe, healthy, and alive. I followed her story and was truly heartbroken when one day in April of 2011,  the breaking news came that she had been found floating nude in a river in Maryland. Following news reports of her discovery I knew that something didn’t sound right and simply didn’t add up. There were many sketchy details that just didn’t make any sense at all. As myself and millions of others began to sift through the pieces left behind by cold, heartless people, including her family who failed to protect her on many levels. I always believed Deena Barnes had something to do with Phylicia’s demise, and finally all of the things I feared were committed in the darkness has surfaced to the light with Deena admitting she had given her kid sister drugs and alcohol. Now it’s time for Deena Marie Barnes to be held accountable. Deena earned the trust of Phylicia’s mother, Mrs. Janice Sallis and promised her that she would take care of Phylicia why she was under her care, as if she was thge the child’s parents. But little did Mrs. Sallis know, Deena was doing the exact opposite. Deena lied to Mrs. Sallis at the beginning of the investigation and made up an itinerary of events. She didn’t even have the decency to let Mrs. Sallis know that Phylicia was missing. It wasn’t until hours later on that day, after Mrs. Sallis started getting sickening feelings that something was wrong, and prompting her to call Deena which resulted in her discovering her daughter had gone missing. We can only  imagine how any mother in that situation would feel? I am wondering why Deena didn’t take Phylicia to work as she normally had done while she was staying with her. I can’t help but wonder if she already knew that Phylicia was dead, and was waiting for Michael Johnson to dispose of Phylicia’s body. I also cannot understand why she would not follow up on the fact that she had not been in touch with Phylicia for most of the day, and knowing she had left Phylicia in the apartment alone with males. I am also concerned that Deena strangely noticed the blue tote of all things was the only item missing from her apartment. It seems that she knew that Phylicia was removed out of her apartment in that tote. Anyone can see through this entire situation. Of all of the things you can notice that’s missing, you notice an insignificant blue tote. It was only significant because Deena probably knew what the real deal was. Deena lied about allowing Phylicia to drink and smoke drugs, so it’s convincing that she may have also lied about her knowlege of what actually happened to phylicia, and the mysterious missing tote. Also, Deena admitted to Phylicia’s mother that she allowed her to drink (contributing to delinquency of a minor) to loosen her up. What in the world did she want to loosen Phylicia up for. As the images surfaced on the internet, on various Johnson family member’s, and Deena’s facebook page, it was easy to see that Deena had lied about her disturbing influence on Phylicia. As the trial of Michael Johnson progressed and Deena Barnes took the stand, she admitted to letting Phylicia drink alcohol and smoke pot. The 16 minute sex tape was also shown to jurors 3 times, and played while Deena was there. What kind of person would degrade their little sister, much less themselves, by taking nude pictures, streaking, and then having it on your phone during the investigation of your missing little sister. Deena lives her life recklessly, encouraged, and condoned Phylicia engaging in similar behavior as well. It was all fun and games until Phylicia was murdered and found nude floating in that river. Deena shocked the world on the stand by saying that she observed Michael reaching between her sister’s legs in the bathroom. What kind of woman would not protect her sister. She still allowed Michael to live there and hang around them. Now the time has come that Deena must be held accountable for reckless actions that caused Phylicia her life. Phylicia did not deserve what ultimately happened to her. Deena definitely should be charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor, child abuse, and child pornography. She has been reported to the Baltimore County Department of Social Services and a petition has been started to bring attention to our desire for her to be charge in a court of law. Deena Barnes must be held accountable for her actions that led to Phylicia’s death and not escape earthly punishment. Let’s get true Justice for Phylicia Barnes so this Angel can Truly Rest In Peace.

Sign The Petition For Charges Against Deena Barnes

The People’s Champion

I’m Mslady84

They are moms, school teachers, and other professionals from all around the nation whose meeting places are far remote from the glare of television cameras where society usually obtain information when tragic murder cases hit mainstream media. Their communities are in the backdrop of real criminal investigations within the forums of Lipstick Alley, Websleuths Crime Sleuthing, Psychic Detective Forums, and all while sharing ideas about murder cases and other crime.

The value of information that could be obtained from many of these communities is immeasurable when you consider the craftiness, tenaciousness, and diligence many of their members implore to discover information pertaining to crimes and the would be perpetrators who prey on the vulnerability of society at large. Long before cops even had a suspect related to who may have killed young Phylicia Simone Barnes, there were discrete investigations being conducted centered around many of the people who the teen had been around while in Baltimore.

Social media sites, television broadcast about her story, and other unconventional investigative measures created opportunities for private chat conversions to transpire with some of the very people who rightfully should be characterized as persons of interest in her killing. Some of the details that were shared in these same communities have been so powerful that it would literally knock your socks off. This reminds me of information that was sent to me from an anonymous source living on the west coast.

I was given an complete chart that outlined the entire Johnson family, from the family matriarchs, to some of their youngest children, addresses, and even property that some family members owned. I was amazed at the volume of apparent sleuthing on Facebook, Myspace, Twitter, and other social media sites had revealed. Perhaps the most intriguing piece of information I obtained was tweets from people who were around Deena and Phylicia up until she disappeared.

That information paints a very compelling story that not only was Barnes more than likely killed by a Johnson Family member, but many of them were probably involved in the cover up or at the very least had knowledge regarding what happened to the teen. More importantly though, many are ignorant to the fact that a volume of information was probably turned over to authorities investigating this murder. On December 28, 2010 the activities of some of them was simply very suspicious. We all know that Michael Johnson called out from work that day because it has been widely reported in the media.

The story of him taking his baby brother home because he didn’t have permission to be at Deena Barnes’ apartment that day has always been confusing to many people following the case. The perception is that Johnson wanted to be alone with Barnes so he could have sex with her, but was Michael Johnson really alone that day when he says he went back to the apartment to do laundry? Those tweets show he was in a car with younger brother Glenton that day around the time he said he last saw Phylicia. In fact about 1/2 hour before Johnson allegedly saw the teen sleeping on the couch, tweets confirm he was driving in a car near Rolling road smoking pot.

His brother even tweeted earlier that he was standing in line which many believe was at the Wal-Mart on RT 40 in Baltimore County, which is in proximity of Rolling Road. It makes you wonder how cops even found out about the Wal-Mart purchase. Probably from forum members who gathered and compiled the tweets made that day. When police investigate crimes of this nature, the use of GPS data while tracking cellphones has become an extremely useful tool in mapping out the nearly pinpoint accuracy of a suspects whereabouts.

Around the time Johnson says he was moving personal belongings out of the apartment the tweets depict him with Glenton, supporting my belief that he wasn’t alone when he went back to the apartment to do laundry as he claims. The tweets from that day (which gives an idea of what a person is up to, or what’s on their mind) gave investigators valuable insight on their activities, and the GPS data revealed the location where they were. It’s highly believed by many following the case, that the information combined (tweets & GPS data) was ground-zero in which the entire “murder theory” they used to convict Michael Johnson was born.

His story about taking young Dylane Davis home does create the idea that he wanted to be alone with Phylicia, but information gathered through the forums outline a better understanding why he wanted his kid brother out of the way. It’s not a secret that Dylane and Phylicia who are in the same age group were extremely close. Dylane confirmed this when he testified that he had slept in the same bed with Deena Barnes and Phylicia the night prior to her disappearance. Michael Johnson took his kid brother home because he knew that he wouldn’t be able to have sex with Phylicia with Dylane in the picture.

Let’s face it, Dylane a minor, had been allowed to stay the night but strangely didn’t have permission to be there in the morning. That part may seem confusing to some, but not really, once you look more closely at information that these sleuthing communities have brought to the surface. Another element that probably hasn’t been brought to light is that a key to Deena’s apartment had been lost, and one of the Johnsons told a sleuther he regrets having lost it because it may have cost Phylicia her life. Through covert measures a sleuther gained the family members trust, and engaged him in private chat conversations online.

Not only did he reveal the “missing key” element of the case, but he even admitted to being present and his participation in the nude streaking which was captured on video. He also expressed regret for having paraded around with the child in the nude. The missing key didn’t factor into how the Barnes murder case concluded, but it offers a glimpse at how ordinary citizens were successful extracting information from people close to the case. One of the most notable efforts to find the Barnes teen’ killer was revealed when TPC discovered that a school teacher and another concerned citizen, spent hours up late at night working tirelessly, to compile tweets made by Johnson clan members on December 28, 2010.

It’s uncertain if that information actually forwarded to investigators by these two sleuthers, but there is very compelling evidence that the information could have been a gateway into what ultimately caught Michael Johnson. Help in Phylicia’s murder also derived from super natural elements as well. Psychic painted vivid images of what the child’s last moments were, describing dwellings that airily resembled the well cops searched after getting a hit for a dead body near the property of Johnson’s older brother, and one even accurately described a bridge connecting two parts of land over a large body of water. I have to admit the premonition was very convincing:

The Conowingo Dam in Northern Maryland: Where the nude body of Phylicia Barnes was found, and possibly the location Danisha McIntosh was referring when she tweeted, “It’s trapped at the dam.

There was some other very interesting clues given by psychics, like one saying that a person name Darien Carter was closely related to the case, and followers who learned about the premonition were surprised when they learned that one of the Johnson family members who hung out at Deena Barnes’ apartment had the initials DC. The fascination that psychics brought to the search for the teen’s killers didn’t stop there. A psychic drew a picture of the person she says she saw as the killer very early in the case. You will have to make your own conclusion as to whether the image actually resembles Michael Johnson, but you must admit the image alone is remarkable:

This is a sketch of the person, that a psychic who saw a vision of Phylicia Barnes’ killer drew back in January of 2011.

It’s important for all of us to know people are willing to use their time, resources, and other means of support to aid in bringing justice to victims and their families when injustices occur like the case of Phylicia Simone Barnes. Additionally, I know that I can confidently say that Phylicia’s mother and her Dad are grateful for any and all efforts made to bring closure to this horrible crime. For the record, its simply a very comforting feeling to know that there are sleuthers out there prowling around in the shadows of crime, working, and prying into the mysterious of unsolved cases to create a more safer society which benefits the entire human race. I tip my hats to them all for their relentlessness, time, and dedication.

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

The details are still emerging but news media reports that Michael Maurice Johnson was convicted of 2nd degree murder in the killing of young Phylicia Simone Barnes in a Baltimore Circuit Court  today less than an hour ago. Phylicia’s family members could be seen hugging, crying, and thanking God in the hallways of Courthouse East. The scene is a culmination of stress, concern, and frustration for a murder case that took over two years to resolve. The pretty book smart honors teen had gone to Baltimore over the 2010 Christmas Holiday to visit her half-siblings and mysteriously vanished. Barnes’ story made national media headlines but eventually lost steam in mainstream media as the investigation lingered on. Thousands of followers also followed the teen’s case in the backdrop on various social media sites, some lost interest in her story in those forums as well, but overall Phylicia’s story developed an international following, and was never really forgotten within the minds and hearts of people all over the world who simply refused to let the promising child die in vain. The trial consisted of a mountain of circumstantial evidence being presented by the prosecution before a Baltimore City jury, and is simply an incredible feet considering controversial verdicts juries in the town has had a reputation for in the past. No word on the factors that helped the jury arrive a conviction, as Justin Fenton of the Baltimore Sun reports the Jury Forman declined to comment on the verdict. The case had no hard evidence, no DNA, no crime scene, and no tangible evidence usually found in cases like this which help prosecutors nail a defendant to the wall. This case did have elements that may have convinced the jury that Johnson was in fact guilty. The conversations regarding Johnson’s desire to flee the country to avoid prosecution, the purchasing of the tote, and the sex video were all pieces of evidence which Johnson himself may have signed his own fate. Though many followers are elated, sounding off in various social media forums, there continues to be a constant repulsion for the slain teen’s older half-sibling Deena Barnes. The public simply refuses to disregard her actions which many feel led up to, and is in fact directly responsible for the untimely demise of her baby sister. Judge Alfred Nance scheduled Johnson’s sentencing next month on March 20, 2013. He faces a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison. Reporters caught up with Phylicia’s mother Janice Mustafa who simply said, “I can breathe again.” Details are still emerging and I’ll bring them to you as they arrive. Justice has finally come for Phylicia Simone Barnes!!!

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams

The jury seated in the Phylicia Barnes murder trial worked through festive celebrations for the hometown Baltimore Ravens after the team won another Super Bowl Title, as hundreds of thousands lined the streets in one of the city’s proudest moments in professional sports history. The chaotic scene in downtown didn’t deter the 12 panel jury from being focused on the business at hand. Deliberations continued in the Phylicia Barnes murder trial in which Michael Johnson is the honor teen’s accused killer. Jurors reportedly brought their lunch back to the courthouse and worked through their scheduled break, a common practice in Baltimore’s judicial process. In the afternoon the jury sent word to judge Alfred Nance that they were experiencing difficulty viewing  the video evidence introduced during the trial. A laptop which was given to the jury couldn’t be utilized because they didn’t have the password, and a TV was also requested so they could view the sex tape and a surveillance video which depicted Johnson purchasing a blue tote from a local Wal-Mart. Prosecutors have alleged that Johnson carried the pretty little girl’s body out of her half-siblings apartment, in a blue tote, and after he had killed her on the day she disappeared. They also say neighbors in the building observed him struggling to carry a tote in the hallway of the building around the time he told police he last saw the child alive. His defense has always maintained that Johnson was only caring personal belongings from the apartment after having been requested to move out, following his breakup with the teen’s sister Deena Barnes, who he dated for 10 years, and cited that witnesses could not testify to what was actually inside the tote Johnson was carrying. The two contrasting arguments leave doubt on both sides when considering these perspectives objectively, but Deena Barnes’ statement to police during the investigation in which she told cops that a large blue tote was missing from her apartment creates a compelling argument that Johnson may have had a reason to discard the container. Prosecuyors had attempted to demonstrate in open court during the trial how a person of Barnes’ size could have fit inside the container Johnson was observed purchasing. Judge Nance denied the state’ request to show the demonstration to the jury because the tote Johnson allegedly purchased on that day has never been found. A competent jury should ask three basic questions related to the mysterious blue tote evidence:

1. Where is the tote that Deena Barnes says is missing from her apartment?

2. Where is the tote that Michael Johnson was observed purchasing at Wal-Mart the day Phylicia Barnes disappeared?

3.Did the tote Johnson purchased end up back in Deena’s apartment as a replacement for the one she said was missing?

These are all logical and rational questions that should be asked prior to even considering the limited tote evidence the judge allowed to be presented to the jury. Cops say Deena Barnes gave them a tote during the investigation, and sources tell TPC that the tote appears to be smaller than the one she owned, and may have tipped cops off to his Wal-Mart purchase after reviewing Johnson’ cellphone GPS data on that day. The more important question should now be asked why Johnson replaced the tote, if that’s in fact what happened. Also, why was the missing tote discarded in the first place? The fact that the tote was never found may assist Johnson’ defense because the court won’t allow certain evidence in court, but it raises tremendous suspicion as to why it suddenly disappeared. Realistically speaking, Johnson’ defense claim he was only moving personal belongings inside that tote, but why haven’t his counsel produced even a mere rationalization explaining how it simply disappeared. It is very possible that Johnson made certain that the tote was never found because it would reveal valuable DNA forensic evidence linking  the Barnes teen body to the tote, and possibly Johnson’ own DNA as well. On day 3 of Deliberations in the Phylicia Barnes murder trial the question of the day is “where is the blue tote?” The fact that it has never been found creates a hell of an argument that Johnson may have carried the child’s body out of the building inside it as prosecutors have alleged, and  he also may have made certain that it would never be found again. A verdict may come at anytime. Praying for justice for young Phylicia Simone Barnes.

The People’s Champion

I’m David Adams