My Child Should Not Have to Die

Your Child Has Been Shot Part Two

The second time it happened, I got a phone call from my future daughter in law. Once again, I did not believe what was being said, "they killed him, Shabazz has been shot, he's dead!" What? My 27 year old son was dead. All I could do was scream "No!" over and over. I felt horribly ill, then went to Brooklyn to the Precinct. The detective, Mike McDermott said that I should not go to the scene where my son Shabazz was laying down dead in the street. He said that the crime scene was under investigation.

Shabazz was a loving father, a good man. He did not participate in gangs and was known to be very calm, cool and quiet natured. There is a saying that "cleanliness is next to Godliness". Shabazz was literally the cleanest man I have ever known. He was particular and radiated no matter what he wore. He was attractive and had a magnetic personality. There were 537 murders in New York City in 2005. One of the 537 was my son, Shabazz.

Shabazz was killed on August 1, 2005 by Jermaine Barrett aged 33 who fired off eleven bullets on Washington Avenue between Lefferts Boulevard and Lincoln Road. Barrett emptied a .357-magnum revolver into Shabazz Muhammad from the back as Shabazz walked away. According to the news report, the first few shots wounded Shabazz at Washington Avenue near Lefferts Avenue and as he lay wounded, Jermaine Barrett pointed his gun at Timecca Lee but discovered he was out of bullets. She said that she fought for her life after her ex boyfriend Jermaine Barrett pistol whipped her.

As Shabazz lay wounded from the first round of gunfire, Barrett pulled out a 9-mm. handgun and shot Shabazz in the left eye, killing him. According to what had been said, Jermaine Barrett arrived in the middle of the night, with two loaded guns concealed in his motorcycle seat and followed Shabazz and Timecca. He, through several phone calls with Timecca while Shabazz was driving, arranged to meet to "talk" with them first in front of Junior's" Cheesecake Restaurant then changed the meeting place by phone with Timecca, Jermaine's ex-girlfriend, to meet at the gas station on Lefferts Boulevard and Lincoln Road.