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A few hard looks cost Mohamed Jalloh, 18, his life.
Jalloh escaped one of the most violent places on earth when he migrated to the United States seven years ago from then-war-torn Sierra Leone. As a refugee with his mother, Jalloh adapted well to life in New York City, and earned a degree from high school.
Just weeks before he was scheduled to return to Africa on vacation, Jalloh got into a fight on W. 181st Street and was stabbed to death with a machete, according to police.
The senseless death happened around 1:30 a.m. on Sun., June 20, and the news radiated around the world.
The Web site AllAfrica.com reported that Jalloh was in McDonald’s on Broadway and W. 181st Street with a cousin when he traded dirty looks with a group of teens. The hard looks escalated to a fight, and the two African men ran.
The Daily News reported that Jalloh turned to face his attackers, and was beaten and stabbed.
Police arrested a St. Nicholas Avenue boy, Andy Henriquez, 16, while he was being treated at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital for a cut to his hand. He has been charged with second degree murder and gang violence.
Assembly Member Adriano Espaillat and City Council Member Ydanis Rodriguez mourned Jalloh’s death on Wed., June 23, and called for unity in the community.
“It was a very violent homicide, very disturbing to us,” Espaillat said, standing near where the teen’s blood was spilled. “We are asking the community to come together so we don’t slip back to the bad old days.”
Jalloh’s death is the fourth homicide this year for Northern Manhattan, one more than the total for all of 2009.
“We are not going back to the 80s and 90s,” said Rodriguez. “We are committed to do what we have to, to bring the resources here [for youth programs.]
“We have to find a way, as a community to stop this,” said Bourema Niambele, a spokesperson for the Jalloh family and an organizer of a basketball league in the Bronx that Jalloh was a member of.
On Fri., June 25 a prayer service was held for Jalloh outside his home, and his body was prepared to be shipped back to Africa.
With fewer resources available for youth activities because of budget cuts to programs like the Summer Youth Employment Program, Alianza Dominicana’s Marie Stroud is afraid fighting amongst teens might be more prevalent as school ends for the summer.
Her organization lost funding for half, 800, of its summer youth positions.
“[Violence] is something that will escalate during the summer because of the budget cuts,” she said. “We’re still hoping the funding [for summer youth employment] will come through.”
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