Filed under: News, Race and Civil Rights
Because of two apparently unrelated incidents, students at Southern University, an HBCU in Baton Rouge, Louisiana, are left to mourn two of their classmates.
At 9:30 p.m Monday night, Ferdinand Dorsey, 24, was shot to death after an argument with other students on campus spilled over to nearby Palisades Apartments. "Young Ferd" as his friends called him, was discovered in the walkway of the third floor of the apartment complex, and another man, who was also shot, was rushed to the hospital.
"Anyone who knew Ferd knew he was a part of the heart and soul of the campus," said Jeremy Creer, in a crowd of students wearing black in remembrance of the criminal justice major. "He knew everyone and everyone knew him. It's like I lost a brother last night."
Millie Dorsey, Ferdinand's mother, was held as she sobbed during a memorial service on campus, realizing how loved her son was in the Southern community. The slain young man was the eldest of her three children.
"The campus is hurting," said Yonni Matthews. "He was a good person, about to finish school and then this happens."
The murder of Dorsey sent shock waves rippling through campus just days after another Southern undergraduate, Sheena Barnett, known as Sheen Marie, was found dead in her bed Saturday. The local rapper had been badly beaten and partially burned in her home on GSRI Avenue.
"Young Ready," a Baton Rouge rapper, said he has known Barnett for several years and she did not deserve this.
"This kind of stuff happens every day in Baton Rouge," he claimed. "But to see something happen to somebody who is not in that kind of lifestyle, that's where the shock comes in."
Investigators could detect no signs of forced entry or struggle at Barnett's home, and believe that she was beaten to death by someone she trusted, with the fire being set to disguise the murder.
"It didn't cover up the fact that there was an intentional murder that took place," said Lawrence McLeary with the East Baton Rouge Parish Sheriff's Office.
In a statement, the university expressed its prayers and sympathy for the Dorseys, Barnett's family and the Jaguar Nation.
According to the FBI Uniform Crime Report, the homicide rate in Baton Rouge has soared over the last decade, while major cities like Los Angeles, Seattle and New Orleans, have all seen steadily decreasing statistics.
These unfortunate deaths in no way reflect the safety standards of Southern University, but serve as a tragic reminder that the pursuit of education does not guarantee our children will be safe from the violence that contaminates our neighborhoods.
Though investigators are urging people to contact them with any information they may have regarding either Dorsey or Barnett's deaths, I am once again disappointed by the "No Snitch" policy that still reigns in African-American culture. We are bombarded with images of our children laying in their own blood, surrounded by numerous people... yet no one knows anything.
I would urge anyone with knowledge of these crimes to cooperate with authorities. Imagine if it was a member of your family. Imagine if it was you. These young people deserve to have their lives respected, even if only in death.
Anonymous tips can be made to Crime Stoppers by calling 344-7867.
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