Families Mourn
Families of the three drowned
toddlers mourn their losses. A1
Baby Talonda
Six-year-old Baby "felonda Is
iwtng improvement A4
Winston-Salem C
,
' i
J' ???. i
X .I
THURSDAY, JULY 29, 1993
Two Men
i
rower concedes nothing without o strugi>fr>
Frederick Dougla
VOL XIX, No \b
? . . ? x
At least 50 shots fired after "drink house" chaos
Waddett Bitting
By SABRINA JONES
ChronicU Staff Writer
"I feel the world has lost a very
special person."
Those words belong to 30-year
old Anthony Samuels, whose
brother was shot to death early Sun
day morning in a gunfight at a drink
house located at 910 E. 22nd St
Steven Joel Samuels, 22, and
Waddell Lynn "Tiger" Bitting, 21,
were shot in the head when random
shooting broke out around 3:30 ajn.
Sunday in the usually quiet neigh
borhood where mostly elderly resi
dents live.
44 At about three or three-thirty I
woke up to shots," said one neigh
bor who asked not to be identified.
"About 15 rounds were fired, and
people were running and screaming.
They busted open my screen door
trying to get in."
When the neighbor looked out
side her house to see what was the
cause of the chaos, she saw
Samuels* sprawled body in her dri
veway. He had been shot while try
ing to enter his car, his keys lying
beside his hand.
"One man shot in the air and
then everyone started shooting. It
seemed like every cop that was on
duty was down here. It happened for
no reason. I was terrified,** she said.
Bitting was killed while trying
to seek shelter on another neigh
bor's front porch.
Essie Green * 85? on whose
porch the police found Billing's
body, went outside when she was
awakened by the rapid gunfire.
~'Wc Don't Need Thia'
"I came out bocmm I wanted to
_know who was shooting," said
Green. "When I came out, the man
was lying on my porch. I don't feel
anything about it I don't have any
Please see page A3
Stephen Samuels
NEWS WEEK
NEWS AT A GLANCE
WHERE TO FIND IT
Buunbss
Classifieds
Community News
EorrouALs...'
Ejtohtainmbnt .
Obituaries
| Religion
Spouts
[Bey Seeks to Oust Burke in Northeast Ward
A Says&urke betrayed blacks
By DAVID L. D1LLARD
Chromcl* Suff Writer
A group of blacks dissatisfied
with the way Alderman Vivian
Burke has treated constituents in the
Northeast ward has formed a com
mittee and plans to oppose her in
November's general election. ..
- The Afro-Republican Progres
sive Committee is supporting
Rasheed Bey? a long-time commu
nity activist, to challenge Burke and
hopefully boost the economically
deprived ward.
Bey was instrumental in the for
mation of the Citizens Police^
Review Board and forming the
group, Awakening Giants. He said
he is running a "campaign based on
culture" and is proposing self-help
methods to allow the blacks to rid
theTr own communities of crime,
drugs and other vices.
"The Northeast ward has been
abandoned and betrayed by its alder
man," he said. "(Burke) does not
need another term."
Bey said Burke betrayed blacks
when she sided with white aldermen
in a 1989 vote that stripped black
aldermen of their chairmanship of
powerful committees. He character
ized her vote as a "historical dis
grace" because blacks lost their
power, and in return she retained her
position as chairperson of the public
safety committee and received what
he sees aa the grandiloquent but
powerless title, mayor pro tempore. *
Burke, who has yet to announce
her candidacy, declined to comment
on Bey's allegations.
Bey said he respects the eco
nomic development that East ward
Alderman Virginia Newell has
brought to her ward and considers
economics vital to increasing safe
neighborhoods.
"During her tenure, (Burke) has
yet to develop anything of economic
substance like Newell has," Bey
said. "I will try to follow in the foot
nomic projects and programs for my
constituents."
Bey plans to operate job-train
ing programs mostly through
churches with government assistance
as a cost-effective way to spur eco
Rashigd Bty
nomic development in the ward.
"There are enough churches not
to have a drug problem," he said.
"This plan doesn't require a lot a
money, just cooperation and under
standing from the religious commu
nity. If elected, I will work collec
tively with the mayor, the city and
our religious community to set up
self-help employment agencies in
different churches."
Bey stressed the importance of
blacks gaining respect and helping to
solve racial problems through self
help programs.
Ml Tabor stunnur enrichment program student s perform a play . (See story A4)
? TO SUBSCRIBE CALL 919-722-8624
Three Toddlers Drown
In 2 Separate Accidents
By MARK R. MOSS
Chrowcli Staff Writer
Last week was a tragic one for
two area families.
Within a 72-hour period three
toddlers ? two of whom were
related ? died in two separate
drowning accidents in family
pools.
On July 20, Jacqueline Patrice
Miller and Brandon Jamal Miller -
niece and uncle and both 19
months old - were found floating
in the backyard pool of Brandon's
father at 1764 Camden Road.
"I was devastated ... shocked.
It felt like the end of the world/
said Fredrinna Miller, the girl's
mother. Tve always been a little
cautious about that pool/ she
added.
Three days later on July 23,
Tyrecee Devarra Davis, also 19
months old, drowned in his grand
mother's backyard pool at 1317
Belews St.
The Miller children had been
left in the care of Predrinna's sister,
Monique Miller, 16, at her parents
home. Miller said her father and
stepmother, Fred and Diane Miller,
were at a funeral at the time of the
accident A van Miller, ber brother,
was also at home.
Today, the in-ground pool had
been drained, and a black tarpaulin
had been placed over the concrete
hole. Last Friday, the living room
6f Fredrinna Miller's home in Pied
mont Park was crowded with well
wishers. Besides "Jackie,"
Fredrinna, a student at Winston
Salem State University, has three
more children, including a set of
twins.
On the afternoon of July 20
Fredrinna called her father's house
to make sure Jackie was all right
She was comforted by the sounds
of her daughter's voice in the back
ground.
It was the last time she would
hear it
Police Capt Linda Davis said
when police arrived at about 5:43
p.m., they performed CPR on the
children. Emergency medical per
sonnel later rushed them to North
Carolina Baptist Hospital. They
Please sttf page A3