18-MONTH-OLD DE’AVRY THOMAS was killed in a drive-by shooting in Downtown Pittsburgh, May 29. He and his mother were not the intended targets. A vigil and balloon release was held the following day, Memorial Day, at the West End Overlook in his honor. (Photo graphic by Warren King)
Gainey committed to stopping the violence
There is an African American mother in our area right now whose life will never be the same.
Her precious 18-month-old son, De’Avry Thomas, was pointlessly, unreasonably shot and killed on an otherwise sunny, 85-degree Sunday afternoon, by a person who, most people believe, should go to jail for life—or even worse.
“I cannot imagine the grief that this family is experiencing, losing an 18-month-old baby,” said an emotional Pittsburgh Mayor Ed Gainey. He spoke during a special news conference Sunday night, May 29, seven hours after the broad daylight, drive-by shooting in Downtown Pittsburgh.
“As a father,” Mayor Gainey said, “when I go to bed, every night I think about the safety of my family and my children. And as mayor, I think about the safety of every single resident…I want to show our city that we are going to do everything that we can to make this summer safe, especially for our children.” But the facts are the facts. Shootings are a regular occurrence in and around Pittsburgh, with no signs of slowing down. And in the summer, the gunfire seems to increase.
“There’s just too many guns out there,” said Pittsburgh assistant police chief Lonnie Bickerstaff, at the May 29 news conference.
Police said that at least two men were in a black Jeep around 2:45 p.m., May 29, when someone in the Jeep fired shots into a gray Jeep on Fourth Avenue and Stanwix Street, near PPG Place. Police said it was a targeted shooting—the suspects were attempting to shoot someone else, but ended up striking the innocent 18-month-old Thomas in the gray Jeep. Thomas’ mother was also in the vehicle.
Pittsburgh Police arrested 26-year-old Londell Falconer on Memorial Day, May 30, and charged him with homicide and conspiracy. According to a criminal complaint, Falconer admitted to police that he was “the driver” of the black Jeep in question in the shooting. The black Jeep was found by police a few hours after the shooting in Troy Hill.
Now police are searching for another suspect, 23-year-old Markez Anger, who police believe was also in the black Jeep with Falconer. As of Tuesday afternoon, May 31, Anger had not been apprehended. Both alleged suspects are African Americans.
“I grieve at the thought of another young life being taken in this city,” Mayor Gainey said. “I know that our thoughts and our prayers are not enough. We are utilizing all available resources to find the responsible people so that we can bring them to justice and begin the healing for this family.”
PITTSBURGH MAYOR ED GAINEY
Whether warranted or not, eyes and ears are watching and listening to Mayor Gainey’s every word concerning gun violence in Pittsburgh. Much of Mayor Gainey’s pitch in his campaign to become the city’s first Black mayor was that he could provide the proper leadership to curb the homicides. He knows firsthand how gun violence impacts and severs communities. In 2016, Mayor Gainey’s sister, Ja-nese Jackson Talton, 29, was shot and killed outside Cliff’s Bar & Grill in Homewood. Police charged Charles McKinney with the murder.
Mayor Gainey said that on Friday, June 3, he and his team would unveil a comprehensive plan in addressing the gun violence in Pittsburgh. Earlier this year, the city entered into a joint task force with federal, state and local agencies in taking “concrete, proactive steps towards combating gun violence in our city,” he said.
The task at hand: To “identify the small number of extremely violent individuals whose activities are the catalyst for most of the violence in our streets,” the mayor said, “and take a focused, deliberate action to prevent them from committing further acts of violence.”
In an exclusive interview with KDKA Radio’s Marty Griffin, Mayor Gainey on Tuesday, May 31, called Sunday, May 29, “a terrible day.” He added it was “unbearable” knowing that an 18-month-old had been shot and killed in, basically, the middle of Downtown Pittsburgh.
Mayor Gainey stressed in the interview that “public safety is my number one priority.” He said he’s been traversing the country, meeting with heads of other cities like Newark, N.J., and he’s convinced that random stops of African Americans won’t stop violence. “I believe in doing general deterrent strategies across, so that we’re targeting the most violent criminals in the city and getting them off the street. Just pulling Black and brown people over without cause doesn’t make anyone more safe and it isn’t the kind of policing we want in our city.”
On Memorial Day evening, about a hundred people gathered at the West End Overlook to honor the life of Thomas, the 18-month-old boy. There were tears, hugs, candles, and a balloon release. No one there could have ever thought they would be attending a vigil on a day that families usually reserve for cookouts and fellowship.
“These acts of violence cannot and will not hold our city hostage. Enough is enough,” Mayor Gainey said at his news conference, May 29. “We will bring the full weight of our combined resources to bear and ensure that we get the most violent actors off our streets. I’m fully committed to this.”
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