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St. Pete Letter Asks For Peace, Witnesses After June Shooting

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By YOLANDA FERNANDEZ and VALERIE KALFRIN

News Channel 8 The Tampa Tribune

Published: August 12, 2008

Rep. Darryl Rouson joined St. Petersburg Mayor Rick Baker and four other public officials in an open letter to the community Monday morning asking for peace after the shooting death of 17-year-old Javon Dawson and urging any witnesses to come forward.

St. Petersburg police Officer Terrence Nemeth fatally shot Dawson in the back on June 7 outside Shining Light Masonic Lodge, from which more than 200 young people had spilled into the street during a graduation party, police said.

Police say Dawson pointed a gun at Nemeth as the teen ran from the officer. Dawson's family maintains he was unarmed. The shooting is under investigation by the police department and the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office.

Omali Yeshitela, leader of the International People's Democratic Uhuru Movement, has decried the shooting as police brutality. Yeshitela has asked that the officer be criminally charged and Dawson's family receive monetary compensation.

The letter was aimed to assuage frustration with the investigative process and tell investigators that, "We as leaders are concerned ... and are vigilant about what comes down," Rouson said.

Rouson said the frustration is evident in public protests by the Uhuru Movement and private comments. "I've heard people's anger and frustration, both with witnesses coming forward and with the pace of the investigation," he said.

The letter also calls for building community relationships and condemning "the pervasive gun culture which glamorizes guns."

"What we're saying is, No. 1, let's allow the process to work," said Pinellas County Commissioner Ken Welch, who also signed the letter. "I'm confident the state attorney will do his job.

"It's also important that if you saw what happened the night Javon Dawson was killed, you come forward and speak the truth so this community can come to terms with what happened there."

Others who signed the letter are St. Petersburg City Council chairman James Bennett and city council members Karl Nurse and Wengay Newton.

Yeshitela said the letter's reference to gun culture is an attempt to divert attention from the shooting.

"The issue is not gun culture. The issue is Nemeth shot this child twice in the back," he said. "The only thing we've asked for is justice be done around that case."

Welch and Rouson defended the letter's language.

"No one's trying to lose sight of Javon Dawson's tragic shooting," Rouson said. "The fact of the matter is, there is a tendency of our youth to use guns to settle disputes and to express their anger and frustration."

There are too many guns in the community, Welch said. "It's unacceptable to say it's a common occurrence to have gunplay at a party or celebration."

Reporter Yolanda Fernandez can be reached at (813) 225-2746 or yfernandez@wfla.com. Reporter Valerie Kalfrin can be reached at vkalfrin@tampatrib.com or (813) 259-7800.

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