On shooting victim’s birthday, families of slain teens call for justice

ROCKINGHAM — The family of the two teens killed in a shooting at the 74 Car Wash in November held a press conference on Tuesday — what would have been Malik Ellerbe’s 18th birthday — to push local law enforcement to give the investigation the attention it deserves and to pursue other suspects they believe are connected to the case.

The two victims, De’Marion “Duna” Davis and Malik, were best friends and seniors at Richmond Senior High School. The fatal shooting came at the tail-end of their Thanksgiving break. Their alleged assailant, 18-year-old Evann Jaqueez Taylor, was arrested the following morning.

The victims’ families gathered outside the parking lot of Sly’s Diner to honor the lives of their loved ones and share their concerns about the investigation with the media.

Both teens were car enthusiasts with big goals for their lives.

De’Marion’s mother, Tanikka Hough, tearfully addressed the crowd of about 40 friends and family who gathered to show their support. Hough shared that her son wanted to pursue mechanical engineering in college, and that he was getting close to finishing his customizations to his Tahoe, which he was doing himself.

“I will fight for them and I won’t stop until justice is served,” Hough said.

Malik’s father, Anthony Johnson, spoke with pride about his son’s aspirations to start his own trucking business. His mother, Melinda Ellerbe Crank, said that Malik bought his first car with his own money he made mowing lawns.

“I need justice,” Crank said. “We’re hurting.”

Malik was the fourth child of five. Two of Malik’s sisters, Andrea Ellerbe and Zaporia Anderson, agreed that their presence at the gathering was important to send a message that the community is not going to forget.

“All I know is that we need justice for these boys. They didn’t deserve what they got,” said De’Marion’s father, Tyrone Davis. “I’m here every day, standing up, until we get justice.”

Pushing for action

District Attorney Reese Saunders said in an interview Tuesday that he has met with the families twice since the shooting, and last week met briefly with John Barnett, a civil rights activist with the National Action Network, who has been hired as a spokesperson for the families.

Barnett, who also spoke at the press conference, is not the families’ lawyer and therefore cannot formally represent them in any legal capacity. Saunders initially resisted the meeting, but said they had a “cordial and friendly” conversation and did not engage in direct discussion about the case.

Saunders said he has shared with the families all of the information pertaining to the case that he can.

“We got to make sure we bring this case to the forefront,” Barnett said at the press conference. “It’s important because they’re just going to treat this like another brother dead — or another two brothers dead … The only voice [the deceased] they’ve got is the voice we have here today.”

Addressing the crowd, Barnett noted that he’s usually attached to the defendant’s case, but this time he’s representing the victims’ families which puts him on the same side as the prosecution, meaning Saunders. He also expressed frustration that three of Saunders’s assistant DAs have been out with COVID-19, which he suggested could be causing additional delays to the trial.

“We have to watch the DA’s office,” Barnett said. “I’m on the same side as the man that locked up some of y’all’s cousins, and prosecutes some of your cousins. So I’d be a fool to think that he has our best interests in mind knowing that his job every day is to prosecute the people that we’re kin to.”

He added that the assistant DAs being out sick likely means “a lot of work is piling up on the desk.”

“I want to make sure that these two brothers’ cases don’t get put under a file somewhere,” Barnett said.

“It’s a homicide case — it’s not going to get lost in the shuffle,” Saunders said when asked to respond to the concerns about the speed of the trial.

At several points during the gathering outside Sly’s Diner, Barnett and others led chants of “no justice, no peace,” as the crowd displayed numerous signs bearing pictures of Malik and De’Marion.

The family echoed Barnett’s comments about the speed of the trial. The court date, which will be a pretrial hearing to allow the defense and the prosecution to address any issues before the trial begins, has been moved to May 9.

“I told [Barnett] that it looks like it’s going to take some time,” Saunders said. “They can push all they want to but this is a first-degree murder case, they move at a slower pace just because the stakes are so high, among other reasons. It’s very methodical.”

He added that the family would be informed of every court date so that they have the opportunity to be there.

Another frustration for the families is that four vehicles have been impounded in connection to the case, and personal property including a laptop is still inside. They also continue to pay bills on the vehicles while not having access to them, family members said.

Saunders said that in order to properly prosecute the case, the vehicles cannot be released until Taylor’s defense has an opportunity to examine them and take pictures.

“I told [Barnett] that as soon as all of that is done I’ve got no problem with letting them have their cars back, unless there’s some biological evidence … It’s just a matter of getting the things done right that need to be done,” Saunders said.

The families’ suspicions

The scene of the crime quickly drew a crowd, which included some of the victims’ family members, who took numerous videos from various angles. The Daily Journal reviewed a video that shows a young man who is apparently handcuffed speaking to an officer and another man before eventually being allowed to leave. The family believes this person is a friend of the alleged shooter who was involved in the shooting.

The family additionally claimed that this other person being questioned has a family connection to law enforcement which could lead to them getting special treatment.

Asked at the press conference about the evidence to support their claims about this other individual, a family member said that, in addition to the videos of the scene, they believe that the number of vehicles impounded suggests another person being involved. The family member reasoned that if two of the four vehicles belonged to the deceased, then one of the remaining vehicles must belong to the shooter and the other must belong to someone else who is involved.

Saunders said he doesn’t know if any additional charges will be filed in connection to the deaths of Malik and De’Marion. Asked about these claims related to the other individual at the scene, the Rockingham Police Department said that they could not offer any comment on these allegations as the investigation is ongoing.

“If there’s anybody else that’s got something to do with this murder, they should be accountable too,” Barnett said. “We’ve got to make sure they are judged inside a courtroom. So to the DA: we ask that you don’t turn a blind eye to these young black boys, just because they’re black and their skin color is as chocolate as mine. You’ve got to treat them with justice.”

The birthday celebration

To celebrate Malik’s 18th birthday, family and friends traveled to his grave at the Philadelphia First United Methodist cemetery.

Before a balloon release, Rev. Michael Patrick gave a prayer of peace.

“We ask not to allow these young men’s death to be in vain,” Patrick said. “That some other young man, women, boy or girl might look unto you, O God, for strength, that they may be able to come to a resolution rather than acting out in violence. We pray, O God, that you would give them that moment that they can think about what they’re are doing. We are praying for peace for the community.”

“Happy Birthday Malik!” exclaimed the crowd as they released their balloons.