“Where are our community leaders?” residents ask.
By Kristen Hernandez
Pompano Beach – Dayvon Johnson dreamed of owning his own business, this way eventually he would be able to provide a stable future for his fiancé, Karina, and his four young children, ages 16, 10, 6 and 2. Johnson began classes to pursue his goal of earning a business degree.
On Sunday February 26, Johnson rode his bike to the neighborhood corner store located at 401 NW 27th Ave. The store is also a hotspot for gambling and drug-dealing. It is not clear what Johnson was heading to the store for, but that fateful Sunday night was his last ride.
“This is a hard pill to swallow,” said Johnson’s mother, Lisa Sneed told Villij News. “He was a big, gentle bear.”
Johnson and pregnant 30-year-old Delana James Miller were callously gunned down with high-powered semi-automatic weapons in a drive by shooting in front of the store. James was expecting her first child and had been trying for months to conceive, according to sources. Johnson suffered multiple gunshot wounds to the head. The victims are unrelated. Both are innocent bystanders.
The three Pompano Beach residents, Johnson, Miller, and her unborn child, were mourned on March 3 during a Friday night prayer vigil in front of the crime scene. “Tonight, we are in pain. We are declaring here that this killing of our own stop. We are declaring this won’t happen anymore. God demands you turn yourself in,” said Johnson’s uncle, Pastor Henry Lee Goodwin at the vigil. “When you roll over at night, I want you to see my nephew’s face. See that young lady and her unborn baby.”
The shooters took off on I-95, where the Broward Sheriff’s Office later found the silver SUV used in the crime engulfed in a blaze. The yellow investigation tape around the store had been ripped down and store owners brazenly continued business as usual. Sixty-two bullet holes riddled all over their store front and a gathering of mourning residents and grieving family members across the street.
The store’s owner, M.D. M. Rahan, told Channel 7 News, “I saw the video [and] it was really horrible.”
Residents say that the store is a breeding ground for crime and violence.
“To those selling drugs as we speak and going about your business like nothing happened,” Goodwin said. “Shame on you. We demand justice for our children and future generations. This has got to stop. The killing of our own must stop today. We are taking a stand against gun violence.”
Many residents feel like they are standing alone, as their concerns fall on deaf ears.
“I’m not trying to compare the two situations, but there was a tremendous amount of support from outraged celebrities and pastors that turned up for the Parkland shooting victims,” Goodwin told the Villij News.
“Not even one city commissioner showed up for the people who voted them into office. Where was everybody? My sister had to call just to find out where BSO was. They were supposed to be there to protect us and showed up an hour late and then stood there while those thugs sold their drugs and smoked herb right out in front of them. And they did nothing. My nephew, the young pregnant lady and her unborn child deserved better. This community deserves better.”
The wake for Dayvon Johnson will be Friday March 10 at 6 p.m. at Black’s Memorial Temple C.O.G.I.C, 404 NW 8th Ave., Pompano Beach. The homegoing celebration is Saturday, March 11 at 10 a.m. at Mount Calvary Missionary Baptist Church, 800 NW 8th Ave., Pompano Beach. The wake for Miller will be held Friday March 10 at 6 p.m. at JFLCC Chapel, 190 N. Powerline Road, Pompano Beach and the Celebration of Life on Saturday, March 11 at 1 p.m. at Word of Living God Ministries, 149 NW 26th Ave., Pompano Beach.
“No person can understand the pain of having to bury your child,” Sneed said. “To those who posted those disgusting pictures of my son dying and bleeding in the street, we demand justice. You could never understand my pain. And to those thinking that it could not be you, it could be you, too.”
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