by Charlene Muhammad
COMPTON
(FinalCall.com)�Nation of Islam members
throughout the Western Region expressed shock and grief with family and
friends of 19-year-old Terrell X over his fatal shooting May 23 at a
local gas station.
According to police, Bro. Terrell (born Terrell
Williams) and a cousin, Dewey Saunders, were standing on the sidewalk at
an Arco Gas Station at the intersection of Alondra and Central
Boulevards, when a car carrying two men drove up. One of the men got out
and shot Bro. Terrell once in the upper body. He died at the scene.
Mr. Saunders was shot once in the lower body, and is
recovering at a local hospital. Police believe the suspects are members
of a local street gang. Bro. Terrell�s death occurred just one week
after the F.O.I. joined community leaders, educators, activists and L.A.
County Sheriffs at a meeting on curbing street violence and a growing
"gang" war in Compton. A resident of Carson, he was in Compton for his
usual visit with his grandmother and other family members.
Since the incident, over 200 F.O.I. throughout the
region merged to scour the neighborhood for information and insight
leading to their brother�s killer, and every day since the shooting,
they have convened at the crime scene and Compton streets.
On May 25, after marching from the crime scene to the
family home, one-by-one, each brother bowed and greeted, some tearful
and with long, silent hugs, Bro. Terrell�s mother and grandmother. They
did so in honor of the womb that produced such a fine, respectable young
man, said Western Region Minister Tony Muhammad.
Though obviously saddened over the loss of one they said
strengthened and encouraged them, Bro. Terrell�s mother, aunts, cousins
and even neighbors, found a moment that same day to share with The
Final Call memorable times, and the things they love and will
remember most about him.
"That�s my man. That was my baby and my best friend,"
said his mother, Joyce Carter. She said Bro. Terrell and his cousins,
David X, Singclair X, and Kemont X, did everything together since their
childhood, even joining the Nation of Islam, one by one.
Over 50 of Bro. Terrell�s family members attended Mosque
No. 27 Sunday, and six, including his father, stood up to accept the
teachings of the Most Hon. Elijah Muhammad.
"The mission is not really in the mosque but in the
streets and this shows me that Allah (God) took brother for a reason.
The people in Compton and all over need our presence. We have to be in
these places where there�s so much killing of us by us. We have to
police our own," said Western Region F.O.I. Captain Halim Muhammad.
He added that mothers and grandmothers thanked the F.O.I.
for being on the streets, and that many of them had not come outside in
a long time because they were afraid.
Capt. Halim said the men of the Nation have to be
diligent in the faces of young men with guns to save them and their
communities from the terrible plight of unwarranted violence.
Photos: 1-Family photo of Terrell X
(center) with his cousins; 2-Min. Tony Muhammad with Terrell's mother,
Joyce Carter.
