Saturday, April 21, 2012

In Laveen, AZ, Daniel Adkins Got in the Way of a Nameless Black Man, and So He Had to Die

 
Murder victim Daniel Adkins

 
By Nicholas Stix

Amazingly, the April 9th headline at FoxNation is “Black Male Shoots Unarmed Hispanic, Remains Free, Media Mum.”

So far, the police and media have refused to so much as identify the shooter, and Al Sharpton has not been seen anywhere near Laveen, leading “Justice for Daniel” demonstrations.

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Taco Bell Shooting Victim was Holding Leash, Not Weapon: MyFoxPHOENIX.com
Victim's sister calling for shooter's arrest
Wednesday, 4 April 2012, 3:38 p.m. MST; updated 5:12 p.m. MST

LAVEEN - Police are saying more about a shooting at a Taco Bell Tuesday night in which one man died.

They're also identifying the victim as 29-year-old Daniel Adkins.

About 7:30 p.m., a 22-year-old man and his girlfriend ordered food at the Taco Bell drive-thru and were told to pull up while their order was prepared.

At the same time, Adkins stepped around a corner into the path of the vehicle and angry words were exchanged between he and the driver.

They got into an altercation and Adkins was shot once by the driver. He died at the scene.

The driver, a 22-year-old black male, called police but has not been arrested.
At first, the couple claimed that Adkins had a metal pipe that he swung at them -- but it turns out he was holding a dog leash with his yellow lab on the other end.

Family members want that driver arrested, but he's claiming self-defense.

"He needs to be behind bars. I'll never see my brother again," says sister Marina Reyes. "If he felt that my brother was threatening him, he could have easily just rolled up the window and called the cops."

A metal pipe or bat was never located. An independent witness did say Adkins swung his fists in the driver's direction.

“He swung his fist towards the driver window, and at some point the driver shot him,” says Phoenix Police Sgt. Tommy Thompson. “Just because we don’t book a person immediately does not mean we don’t charge a person at a later date.”

The dog, Lady, stayed by Adkins' side until the Humane Society came. Adkins lived with his mom and dad. He's 29, but his family says he's mentally disabled and has the mental capacity of a 12-year-old. He didn't drive, and walked wherever he went.

"This person is still on the loose and I don't agree with that. So he's saying self defense, then where's the weapon? Where's the pipe? They didn't find anything on my brother," says Reyes. "He was just too aggressive, you don't need to go that far."

The shooter's name has not been released. The investigation is still ongoing.

Follow this story: One Dead in Shooting Outside Taco Bell

6 comments:

Anonymous said...

Ya don't shoot a retarded guy for swinging on you. That simple. Lock 'im up!

Anonymous said...

The shooters name is Cordell Lamar Jude of Laveen AZ,eventually he will be arrested,otherwise I would hate to feel the punishment god will pass down to him,which is in my opinion far worse than any court of law.

Anonymous said...

No justice for this crime,people need to stick together,this killer does not deserve to be free,lock him up and throw away the keys.

Anonymous said...

no justice no peace just as in the trayvone case where are the race baiters where are all the protesters wearing hoodies? now is there a bounty on this guys head does the president wish he had a kid that looked like him?spike can you say a few words?maybe we can get the taco bell tape over to the msnbc crew for editing. you want racial equality but you dont have the integrity to make a stand even though you know this criminal should be put down like a rabid dog.

Anonymous said...

Inequality seems to be what the great USA is now days,I didn't know if I was in an argument with someone I could shoot them & claim self defense,I could just say I feared for my life & get away with it,that's what they're saying to our children when they choose not to acknowledge this crime. I'm embarrassed people are not speaking of this more,America is made up of all colors,races but we choose to let the media & racist divide us! Murder is not a color it is a crime,our judicial system fails us once again! Let there be Justice For Daniel Adkins!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Anonymous said...

@April 23, 2012 11:46
Thank you for your non-racist, sensible comment. This 22 yr. old was probably trying to show off in front of his pregnant girlfriend. If he were any kind of man, he would have married his pregnant girlfriend by now instead of shooting an unarmed, defenceless, developmentally disabled guy. This was an altercation that didn't need to go anywhere, clearly he could see this boy was disabled.

These laws need to be modified: Instead of being able to use lethal force, it should be evaluated if lethal force was justified or could "disabling" force have been used.