Teen Dies After Brutal Beating for being GAY

NEW DETAILS: Witnesses said they heard beating victim taunted

By JEFF REINITZ, jeff.reinitz@wcfcourier.com | Posted: Monday, August 22, 2011 8:00 am | (25) Comments

WATERLOO, Iowa — A brutal fight that claimed the life of a Waterloo teen started with taunting, witnesses said.

Police confirmed that 19-year-old Marcellus Richard Andrews was officially pronounced dead at about 3:30 p.m. Sunday. Relatives and acquaintances said he died after being removed from life support at an Iowa City hospital.

“It’s just not fair,” said friend Nakita Wright. “I don’t wish that to happen to my worst enemy.”

Officers and paramedics said they found Andrews unconscious with severe head injuries in the early morning hours Friday.

Andrews, who was slated to start studying interior design at Hawkeye Community College, spent part of Thursday practicing with members of the Crusaders, a drill team sponsored by Union Missionary Baptist Church. He led the step team for the group, which was days away from competing in March Against Darkness.

Night found him at Nakita Wright’s home on Cottage Street.

She said the problems started at about 12:45 a.m. Friday when she and Tudia Simpson, her cousin, went for a walk down the street. Andrews opted to stay behind, waiting on the enclosed porch, she said.

The two women hadn’t made it as far as Adams Street a block away when they heard yelling back at the house. They ran back and found a truck stopped in the street, and the occupants were taunting Andrews, calling him “faggot” and “Mercedes,” a feminization of his first name, Simpson said.

The arguing and name calling continued, said Simpson, who admitted throwing the first punch, striking a girl.

“She kept saying it, and I hit her,” Simpson said.

From there, the fight was on, with Nakita Wright and the others joining in, according to their account.

At some point during the scuffle, Nakita Wright felt her leg brush against something on the ground. She looked down and saw Andrews.

“I tried to help him up, and then this boy ran back and kicked him in his face,” Nakita Wright said.

After the brawl ended, she tried helping Andrews to his feet. He appeared dazed. She grabbed one arm and coaxed him as she lifted. He pushed up with his other arm, but then gave up.

Nakita Wright dialed 911.

He was flown to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics for treatment.

Word of his passing came as the Crusaders Drill Team took part in the March Against Darkness competition at Central Middle School, said Alexis Wright, a cousin of Nakita who works with the Crusaders.

In addition to being step team captain, Andrews had helped train team members, Alexis Wright said.

“He would practice with the little ones, making sure they get it,” she said.

Andrews had been scheduled to lead the team’s Saturday night performance and deliver the opening salute.

Instead, when the event started, organizers had a moment of silence for Andrews, who at that time was understood to be on life support. Later, during an intermission, officials broke the news he wasn’t going to pull through over the public address system, Alexis Wright said.

“All the children were affected by it. When they announced, they were literally on the floor crying,” she said.

It was a tragic end to a busy weekend for the team, which started the with a parade in Parkersburg and another Saturday event before the March Against Darkness, Alexis Wright said.

Andrews had studied at La James College and took part in Job Corps. He had bought his Hawkeye college textbooks earlier in the week.

Authorities continue to investigate the assault. No arrests have been made in the case.

EARLIER STORY

WATERLOO, Iowa — A Waterloo teen who was hospitalized after being beaten early Friday morning has died, police said Sunday evening.

Police this evening confirmed the death of 19-year-old Marcellus Richard Andrews. Police said Andrews was officially declared deceased Sunday afternoon, but relatives and acquaintances said he died Saturday night after being removed from life support at an Iowa City hospital.

Word came as members of the Union Missionary Baptist Church’s Crusaders Drill Team took part in the March Against Darkness competition at Central Middle School, said Alexis Wright, who works with the Crusaders.

Andrews was a captain of the Crusaders’s step team and also helped train team members, Alexis Wright said.

“He would practice with the little ones, making sure they get it.”

Andrews had been scheduled to lead the team’s performance and deliver the opening salute Saturday.

Instead, when the event started, organizers had a moment of silence for Andrews, who at that time was understood to be on life support. Later, during an intermission, officials broke the news of his death over the public address system, Alexis Wright said.

“All the children were effected by it. When they announced, they were literally on the floor crying,” she said.

It was a tragic end to a busy weekend for the team, which started the with a parade in Parkersburg and another Saturday event before the March Against Darkness, Alexis Wright said.

Andrews had studied at La James College, a cosmetology school, and was slated to start at the interior design program at Hawkeye Community College on Monday, friends said. He bought his textbooks earlier in the week.

Authorities continue to investigate the assault, which happened at about 12:45 a.m. Friday in the 200 block of Conger Street. No arrests have been made in the case.

Witnesses said Andrews was hanging out at a friend’s home when a group of people in a vehicle pulled up and began taunting him. A fight ensued, and Andrews was punched, kicked and knocked down.

Police and paramedics called to the scene found Andrews with severe head trauma, and he was flown to University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.

Read More: http://wcfcourier.com/news/local/new-details-witnesses-said-they-heard-beating-victim-taunted/article_60b484ee-cc19-11e0-8d5d-001cc4c002e0.html?mode=story#ixzz1Vo3I97Jc

DMV Employee Fails to File and Damns her to Hell Instead……He lost in the end.

 

DMV Employee takes it upon himself….and loses.

Amber Yust: #winning!

Amber Yust followed all of the rules to the letter of the law when filing her sex change. The 23-year-old trans woman visited a San Francisco DMV to file notice of her having transitioned to female, as her driver’s license needed to reflect this milestone in her life.

The appointment was relatively unmemorable in the way that most visits to the DMV are bland and forgettable. The unforgettable stuff would begin less than a week later.

Four days later, she said, she got a letter from Thomas Demartini that warned her of eternal damnation and referred her to the website of a fundamentalist church, the Most Holy Family Monastery. Yust said she received a DVD from the church the same day, predicting hellfire for anyone “possessed by demons” of homosexuality.

Demartini, the DMV employee who had assisted Yust, had failed to file her paperwork, and also warned in his letter that she was an abomination on her way to hell.

Yust sued both the California DMV and Thomas Demartini in San Francisco Superior Court – and won. Today brings word that Yust has received a $55,000 legal settlement, $15,000 from Demartini himself.

The California DMV will also be working closely with the Transgender Law Center to avoid ugliness like this incident from ever occuring again. Demartini, who was suspended without pay following the incident, quit in December.

Congratulations to Amber Yust on her win, and for being brave enough to stand up to her bully. You go girl.

(via SFGate)

The Human Condition: DISPOSABLE

I haven’t written in a bit. I suppose real life and responsibility got in the way. Today however, seems a good day to look for personal strength. Life is never what you think it’s going to be. I don’t mean that kid dreaming of when she grows up, I mean from day to day, even moment to moment. What you think you know, and what is, are unmistakably and irreversibly different nine times out of ten.

Everything in life is premised on one consistent thing. Relationships. Be it the one with your parents, the one in which you are the parent, the sibling, cousin, aunt, uncle, lover, friend, co-worker….the list is long and all you have to do is look at Facebook to see the endless trail of your life, your history, the history of others, your impact on their lives, where they have been, where they are now, where they think they are going….it takes relationships to make the world go round, and yet they are among the hardest tasks of humanity.

Some you keep at a distance. You call upon them from time to time, perhaps in need, perhaps not. You ask how they are, you exchange pleasantries and you engage in the small talk. Some you are obligated to. They are familial, they are part of who you are, in the way you behave, make choices or consider consequences. Some are more intimate. They know the cogs and inner workings of your spirit, decision making, values and ideals and they become part of your dreams and endeavors in life. Through it all we have birthdays and anniversaries to benchmark these spectacular networks that create the ebb and flow of our very existence.

The hardest thing in life, is the reconciliation of those relationships. We are imperfect by nature. There is no such thing as “ideal” and” normal” is not a true word, nor does it hold a concrete definition. We are different, and evolve constantly through experiences, conversations and learning. We posses style and fare distinctly our own. We are none like another and because of this and a myriad of other reasons, causes and consequence, we make poor choices, mistakes and inadvertently or sometimes intentionally hurt the relationship. It suffers a wound, for which only communication, care and nurturing can console, aid and heal. They are not disposable simply because you damaged them or wounded them in some way.

I have come to know and understand the word “disposable:”. By definition it is” designed for or capable of being thrown away after being used or used up”, Are we capable as people of being disposable? Is this not what happens when someone opts out of the relationship? You were not worth the time. You are not worth the effort. You are not worth the care or nurturing. You were not worth the love, nor the unconditional love required to make this work.

There in lies the worst of all fears, the ultimate betrayal and the pain of a human being, as he ebbs and flows through the evolution called his life. The relationships, come and they go. Ultimately, you are left just as you arrived,  alone.  This condition knows no boundaries. It has no barriers. It transcends all relationships, and leaves in its wake not a wound, but a body split open and a loss so great, words can not describe.

Don’t ask of your relationships material gain. Don’t ask of your relationships status. Ask of your relationships time. Love. Commitment. Understanding. Assurance. Guidance. Honor. Respect. Tolerance. Ask for time. Ask for experiences and ask for nurturing. Ask for moments and memories to be made, because that is what you take with you. Hold the moments close and recognize them for what they are, because time eludes us, and in the end, no matter how much time we spent, it is never enough in the end. You’ll  always wish for more.  People, the ones with the investment you have made into the intimate journey, the ones closest to you, are not disposable….they are the ones worth holding on to.

Take stock in your relationships. Understand that the difference between today and tomorrow is an action and reaction, and we are none unscathed. Be it the loss directly by choice, or the loss indirectly by accident, loss is loss. Hold them close, check in on them, let them know they matter to you and make a difference in your life.