titantoo
06-18-2005, 01:47 AM
June 18, 2005
Family of Slain Boy, 15, Grieves as Suspect, 13, Is Charged With Murder
By ABEER ALLAM
The black Rottweiler, Kimy, was restless yesterday morning. For what may have been the first time since her young owner got her as a puppy eight years ago, Kimy had not been walked the night before, and she seemed to sense something was wrong.
"I know you miss him," James Garrett, a housing court liaison officer, murmured to the dog. "I miss him too."
On Thursday afternoon about 3:30, Phoenix Garrett, 15, Mr. Garrett's son and Kimy's owner, was shot dead on Broadway and 145th Street. The police announced the arrest of a 14-year-old boy who they said had fired the fatal shots from a .38-caliber revolver. Yesterday they revised the suspect's age, to 13.
The suspect, whose name was withheld because of his age, was arraigned last night on charges of second-degree murder, according to a spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney's office.
Yesterday, Phoenix's family was wondering how such a bubbly youth could have been killed, and by an even younger boy.
Until he was 3, Phoenix lived with his mother, Jacqueline Birkett-Johnson, a schoolteacher in the Bronx. Then he moved in with his father and stepmother, but both parents say they always agreed on what was in their son's best interest.
Since the families live only a few blocks apart, Phoenix would shuttle between his father's apartment on Riverside Drive and his mother's on St. Nicholas Avenue.
"I have been always a daddy that was like a mommy," Mr. Garrett said yesterday. "We did a lot of things together. I teach him how to play baseball. I teach him football."
His stepmother, Toba, a chief instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education and an author of two books on cooking, was being comforted by a friend.
"Phoenix is the light of my life," Mrs. Garrett said, "He gave me the opportunity to be a mother. He has been a joy for 15 years."
When Phoenix was in the seventh grade he gained weight, and some other boys would call him chubby, so his father bought him a treadmill and a weight machine. He was determined to get back in shape, Mrs. Garrett said.
Mr. Garrett remembers that he used to drive Phoenix to school, but that at age 8, the boy decided it was time to use the subway. Phoenix wanted to become a policeman or an architect, and his mother used to tease him that he could guard the building he would design.
Phoenix sold CD's on the corner of Convent Avenue and 135th Street to earn extra money. His family, friends and neighbors described him as a hard-working student with a great sense of humor.
The shooting left his mother reeling. "He was a great kid," she said through her sobs. "He never bothered anyone. He used to say 'I prefer to be a big fish in a little bowl; I am the king of my father's house.' " commenting on why he lived with his father. Ms. Birkett-Johnson has six children.
She said he had a very good vocabulary and would use big words even when he was little. "I named him Phoenix for a reason," she said. "To die and come back stronger."
Phoenix's sister Mides Birkett-Johnson, 17, was sitting by the doorsteps stunned and red-eyed.
"He is my little brother," she said. "Where you see him you see me. We went everywhere together: to the park, to bike-riding. It hurts, but I know he is in a better place now."
In Phoenix's room were all of his video games, Xbox and Play Station. He had his own VCR and cable television, a computer, a CD player and stacks of CD's. Six pairs of sneakers were neatly placed near his bed.
Mr. Garrett stared at the room with teary eyes. He picked up a football and showed how he used to train Phoenix. He wondered why his son had to die so young.
"I hope they do not charge him as a juvenile," Mr. Garrett said about his son's alleged killer. "Something has to be done about gangs. When a white girl gets raped there is an outcry and special regulations are made. And here kids are getting killed by thugs all the time and nobody is doing anything about it because they are black or Hispanic."
Family of Slain Boy, 15, Grieves as Suspect, 13, Is Charged With Murder
By ABEER ALLAM
The black Rottweiler, Kimy, was restless yesterday morning. For what may have been the first time since her young owner got her as a puppy eight years ago, Kimy had not been walked the night before, and she seemed to sense something was wrong.
"I know you miss him," James Garrett, a housing court liaison officer, murmured to the dog. "I miss him too."
On Thursday afternoon about 3:30, Phoenix Garrett, 15, Mr. Garrett's son and Kimy's owner, was shot dead on Broadway and 145th Street. The police announced the arrest of a 14-year-old boy who they said had fired the fatal shots from a .38-caliber revolver. Yesterday they revised the suspect's age, to 13.
The suspect, whose name was withheld because of his age, was arraigned last night on charges of second-degree murder, according to a spokeswoman for the Manhattan district attorney's office.
Yesterday, Phoenix's family was wondering how such a bubbly youth could have been killed, and by an even younger boy.
Until he was 3, Phoenix lived with his mother, Jacqueline Birkett-Johnson, a schoolteacher in the Bronx. Then he moved in with his father and stepmother, but both parents say they always agreed on what was in their son's best interest.
Since the families live only a few blocks apart, Phoenix would shuttle between his father's apartment on Riverside Drive and his mother's on St. Nicholas Avenue.
"I have been always a daddy that was like a mommy," Mr. Garrett said yesterday. "We did a lot of things together. I teach him how to play baseball. I teach him football."
His stepmother, Toba, a chief instructor at the Institute of Culinary Education and an author of two books on cooking, was being comforted by a friend.
"Phoenix is the light of my life," Mrs. Garrett said, "He gave me the opportunity to be a mother. He has been a joy for 15 years."
When Phoenix was in the seventh grade he gained weight, and some other boys would call him chubby, so his father bought him a treadmill and a weight machine. He was determined to get back in shape, Mrs. Garrett said.
Mr. Garrett remembers that he used to drive Phoenix to school, but that at age 8, the boy decided it was time to use the subway. Phoenix wanted to become a policeman or an architect, and his mother used to tease him that he could guard the building he would design.
Phoenix sold CD's on the corner of Convent Avenue and 135th Street to earn extra money. His family, friends and neighbors described him as a hard-working student with a great sense of humor.
The shooting left his mother reeling. "He was a great kid," she said through her sobs. "He never bothered anyone. He used to say 'I prefer to be a big fish in a little bowl; I am the king of my father's house.' " commenting on why he lived with his father. Ms. Birkett-Johnson has six children.
She said he had a very good vocabulary and would use big words even when he was little. "I named him Phoenix for a reason," she said. "To die and come back stronger."
Phoenix's sister Mides Birkett-Johnson, 17, was sitting by the doorsteps stunned and red-eyed.
"He is my little brother," she said. "Where you see him you see me. We went everywhere together: to the park, to bike-riding. It hurts, but I know he is in a better place now."
In Phoenix's room were all of his video games, Xbox and Play Station. He had his own VCR and cable television, a computer, a CD player and stacks of CD's. Six pairs of sneakers were neatly placed near his bed.
Mr. Garrett stared at the room with teary eyes. He picked up a football and showed how he used to train Phoenix. He wondered why his son had to die so young.
"I hope they do not charge him as a juvenile," Mr. Garrett said about his son's alleged killer. "Something has to be done about gangs. When a white girl gets raped there is an outcry and special regulations are made. And here kids are getting killed by thugs all the time and nobody is doing anything about it because they are black or Hispanic."