Demetry Presley: Rest In Peace

I know that some people would fault me for reading the Philadelphia Daily News.  Many would say that it has a reading level meant for a 5th grader.  After an Eagles win, I find it much easier to review sports and then I glance through the front of the paper.  In a way, I am keeping sports writers, editors and copy wrights employed.  The first article in the paper referred to two young soldiers who killed themselves as a result of Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.  Sgt. Timothy Gill and Sgt. Matthew Cooey could not defeat the demons which affect so many soldiers that return to civilian life apparently unscathed physically by exposure to warfare.  The holidays will be a sad time of remembrance in their respective households.

Demetry Presley

Demetry Presley had just turned twenty-one in the past year.  He was from Sicklerville, NJ and had decided to come to a party on South Street at the Mixed Plate restaurant.  After a brawl inside the club, he was shot several times in the head and chest by a suspect named Lance Smith from Willingboro, NJ.  One African American male is deceased and another one faces a lengthy prison term.  What would cause this young man to shoot randomly in a club?  Some sources said he was beaten up.  In the past, an individual would take a beat down and live to see another day.  Pride and the sense of power that goes along with having a gun is leading so many young men down a path of no return.

Mr. Presley could have been a great husband to a young woman.  He might have been a father already but it wasn't stated in the article.  His image and memory will live on in Facebook.  It is such a tragedy that this man won't get to see the age of twenty-two.  He is some one's son, cousin, nephew and grandchild.  I used to get mad at my son for being a homebody.  I will never do that again.  I loved going to clubs and meeting new people.  Most people didn't have to carry a gun to one back then.  Mr. Demetry Presley: Rest In Peace!

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