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On the hardwood of GAR Memorial High School’s basketball court, he was number 11.
Today, just a few feet away, a lone brick in the gym’s lobby acts as a somber tribute to the life 14-year-old Tyler Winstead, cut short in an accidental shooting on Holy Thursday nearly three years ago.
A basketball standout and honors student at the high school, Winstead’s death galvanized the community into action, spurring the creation of violence prevention groups and cries for more police protection as homicides reached record highs in the months following his death.
Initially thought to be a drive-by shooting, investigators ultimately concluded the teenager from Wilkes-Barre’s Heights section was the victim of an accident. A teenage neighbor discharged a revolver in his mother’s Hill Street bedroom, fatally wounding Winstead.
Saturday, the day before the three-year anniversary of his death in 2012, a vigil will be held on Public Square to honor Winstead’s memory and bring awareness to gun violence. The event will run from 6 to 8 p.m., rain or shine.
Winstead’s grandmother and legal guardian, Carol Golden, declined to be interviewed.
Background
From the onset of the shooting, Luzerne County investigators were chasing false leads.
Elijah Yusuff, then 13, told investigators in 2013 that Winstead was gunned down during a drive-by shooting, describing the shooter down to the color of his sneakers. The unusual amount of detail provided by the young boy raised investigators’ suspicions.
Yusuff later admitted that he shot Winstead by accident, unaware that a .22-caliber revolver in the bedroom of his mother’s Hill Street home was loaded. Yussuf had testified the two teens were in the bedroom and that Yusuff wanted to show the weapon to Winstead.
The teen pointed the gun at Winstead and fired twice, striking him in the chest.
Yusuff testified that he panicked, carried the body downstairs and outside onto the sidewalk, and then told tinvestigators Winstead was the victim of a drive-by shooting.
In May, 2013, Yusuff’s mother, Angelina DeAbreu, received a six-to-12-month sentence for her role in covering up the shooting. DeAbreu pleaded guilty to two counts of hindering the investigation after the 30-year-old mother of three altered the crime scene by using a half-gallon of bleach to clean up blood stains, deleted cell phone records and hid the gun.
During DeAbreu’s trial, it was revealed Yusuff was charged with involuntary manslaughter and is living at a juvenile facility in Orefield, Pa.
Sad situation
Wilkes-Barre Mayor Tom Leighton said it is a sobering thought that violence knows no boundaries.
“Look at their age,” Leighton said. “They were both great young people who had potentially bright futures ahead of them and unfortunately they got a hold of a gun at the age of 13.”
Violence isn’t limited to Wilkes-Barre, he said, but an ongoing problem across the county and across the world. To begin preventing it, Leighton believes children need to be taught at an early age about the cost of meddling with drugs and weapons.
“I think it starts in school in educating kids on danger of guns and the danger of drug use,” he said. “We need to educate our youth to stay away.”
“At the age of 13, no one should be handling a pistol,” he added.
Larry Singleton, president of the Wilkes-Barre chapter of the NAACP, said it was also up to adults to behave as role models.
“Whether it’s adults or it’s kids, sometimes we emulate what we see,” he said. “So we have to be mindful as adults also.”
Furthermore, Singleton said neighbors can’t be afraid to support and contact the police if they see something suspicious. It takes courage, but the message is out there, he said.
“Be aware of what’s happening in your community and bring that awareness to someone who can do something about it,” he said. “You can’t become a prisoner of your neighborhood or community.”
Ongoing battle
Leighton acknowledged the alarming number of homicides that followed Winstead’s death only added to the fear of city residents.
In 2013, Wilkes-Barre fell under scrutiny after a record 13 homicides. Leighton believes that number was an outlier.
“Crime flows through peaks and valleys and Wilkes-Barre unfortunately hit a high peak that year,” he said, adding that much of it was criminals shooting other criminals.
Though homicide totals in Wilkes-Barre have decreased since then (two in 2014, one in 2015) Leighton said the city enlisted the aid of other area law enforcement agencies to combat violence. More police officers were added to fight what Leighton called a “never ending battle” against violent crime. Those officers are fighting to provide safer neighborhoods for residents, neighbors and the business community, he said.
Bridge repair
In the months that followed Winstead’s death, events for Building Bridges, the organization founded in his memory, saw attendance in the hundreds as community members came together with their aim set on reducing youth violence.
Members of the initiative met over several months to identify problems that lead to gun violence and how to solve them.
But then, the organization began to sputter. Initial plans were scaled back in the wake of dwindling funds.
Shivaun O’Donnell, a Building Bridges board member, said it’s been several months since the organization has met.
Members are motivated, she said, but most work other full-time jobs. O’Donnell said there is a significant need for experience at the head of the organization.
“We need an executive director to get us off the ground, but that requires funding which we don’t have,” she said.
None the less, O’Donnell said the group remains enthusiastic, has great ideas and the right people to propel them.
Town hall meetings helped the organization understand underlying problems within communities.
“What we determined in our sessions is that there’s a lack of constructiveness between people. We’re more multicultural than we were 20 years ago and the communication between neighbors is very limited,” she said.
O’Donnell said Building Bridges hopes to continue its search for someone to secure funding for the organization.