Another young black man has died without reason

By BOB RAY SANDERS

bobray@star-telegram.com

This week, another black mother will bury her son much too soon because of a disease that has plagued the black community much too long: senseless violence.

Awaiting me on my voice mail when I walked into my office last Monday was a message from a male caller informing me of an incident the night before that left 20-year-old Yannick Blake dead.

The caller was also lamenting the age-old problem of black-on-black crime, particularly among young people. He wanted me to know of a vigil that evening in honor of Yannick and to call attention once again to a problem that won’t go away.

It seems every three or four years there is a wave of violence in black and Hispanic communities brought on by youngsters high on drugs, induced by the fascination of gangs or simply playing out some tough-guy role they’ve seen in films that glorify violence.

I’ve attended far too many funerals of promising young men cut down before they had the chance to really taste life.

Now here’s another one.

Yannick had been an outstanding track star at North Crowley High School. In his first year there, his coach told the Star-Telegram that he was "one of the best freshmen I’ve ever had."

He distinguished himself in the 100-meter dash, as well as on the school’s relay teams.

An article in 2006 noted: "North Crowley trailed Mansfield by three points entering the final event — the 4x400 relay. But North Crowley’s relay team of Charles Davis, Yannick Blake, Chris Ford and Marcus Boyd won the event and secured the district title."

Family and friends say he was a charmer.

"If you met him, there’s no way you couldn’t like him," said Andre Shephard Jr., Yannick’s 19-year-old cousin, who was with him the night he was killed. "He was one of those people who walked down the street with so much spirit — always made you laugh."

A 2007 graduate of North Crowley, Yannick was planning to enroll at Tarrant County College in January, Andre said.

When I asked what happened that Sunday night, Andre didn’t hesitate to explain. He was right in the middle of it.

Three men who lived next door to Yannick at an east-side apartment complex didn’t get along well with him because Yannick didn’t trust them, said Andre, who that day was moving with his girlfriend from the apartment just below that of the three men, all older than 20.

Two things had happened Sunday that upset the men. They had greeted Yannick, and when he failed to return the greeting they began cursing him.

That afternoon Andre confronted the guys and accused them of having thrown some rotting chicken onto his patio. They became verbally abusive, cursing loudly, until the security guard broke it up.

Andre and Yannick had plans to work out at the gym that evening. After Yannick answered his cousin’s knock on his apartment door, one of the three men next door said, "The security guard’s not here now."

One of the guys hit Yannick and a second joined in. That’s when Andre jumped into the fray, and then the third adversary began throwing punches.

The "brawl," as the police called it, ended up on the ground. Yannick was fighting two of the men, Andre said, and he was on top of the third when a young woman said, "Get off him. Your cousin’s been stabbed."

When he saw Yannick, Andre said, "he was holding his stomach and blood was running down his side."

Another witness said a girl had handed the assailant the knife.

Yannick answered "yes" when Andre asked whether he was all right. "Yannick walked all the way to my car and fell," Andre said.

He told Andre, "Man, can you tell my mom I love her?"

Andre said a woman asked the victim, "Do you accept Jesus as your Lord and Savior?" to which he replied, "Yes."

Yannick died on the way to the hospital, Andre said.

"It’s killing me, but I’m trying to make it," Andre told me last week. "I’m going to church, and everybody at church is praying for me. Every day, I feel like I don’t believe it."

Not really knowing what to say, other than "Stay strong," I told Andre that it was up to him to try to make something positive come out of this senseless act.

"That’s what I’m trying to do," he said. "I feel like this is my testimony to stop all this violence — black on black. It needs to change."

Amen, my brother. Amen!

Bob Ray Sanders’ column appears Sundays and Wednesdays. 817-390-7775

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