ST. LOUIS—When you listen to Toni Taylor’s and Cary Ball, Sr.’s voices, when they speak of their son, you’d probably more closely relate them to the voices of proud, doting parents opposed to the voices of victims of a surging, violent rash of State crimes against black people in this country – specifically, young Africans.
By appearance one might think that the parents of this assassinated young man have been dealt as fair a hand as one can in this situation, but that is hardly the case.
Not until you really sit in their presence and hear their story do you get even an inkling of an idea about how callous, open ended, and unjust the system can really be. If you’re a young African, you happen to fit the description for such unjust treatment.
Cary Terrell Ball, Jr., Toni and Cary Sr.’s son was murdered by two St Louis cops, Jason Chambers and Timothy Boyce, on April 24, 2013.
They shot Cary 21 times.
St. Louis cops claimed to be in full investigative cooperation. Ms. Taylor, however, describes the cops as hiding Cary from her, after having to endure the agonizing frustration of being kept at bay about the details of her child’s murder.
These grieving parents had to seek and find answers for themselves amidst an actual campaign of terror and harassment by the police,
Ms. Taylor, Mr. Ball and their family combed the streets to find out the who, when, what, and how of the murder.
The cops killed Cary because he was black—no matter what they say
Local news media alluded to the story only to grant the killers reasonable cause, by vilifying the facts of Cary’s circumstance.
Cary did have a weapon in the vehicle with him. He had a prior gun possession and he led the cops on a vehicle chase.
So what? Having a weapon and running from the cops are not punishable by the death penalty—unless you’re black. Cary was murdered by these “officers of the law” – after he obeyed orders to drop the weapon, tossing the gun to the side because that’s how the police do black people.
Cary was placed on hospital blackout—documented and processed under another name, despite having his ID on him, because that’s how hospitals do black people. The cops involved, on the other hand, were listed as victims in the same paperwork
Ms. Taylor and Mr. Ball, Sr. want the truth about their son’s murder. No one, not even the other officers on the scene corroborate the killer cops’ that Cary aimed a gun at them.
Ms. Taylor, after police were seen via St. Louis American interview video chirping their sirens, rolling down their window and tauntingly saying “Hi mom,” as they laughed and drove past, said about police, “I’m already confused at a lot of things, but they’re adding to the confusion.” .
Cary Ball, Sr. stated, as he testified on the Black People’s Grand Jury, “There’s nothing else they can do to me.
They can only kill me once, and they did that when they took my baby. I’m already dead walking around here.”
Cary Ball, Jr., his family and our solidarity
Cary Ball, Jr. was a rising star. He was a lifetime honor student attending college and achieving an Emerging Scholar’s Award for maintaining a 3.5 GPA or better. He was a young man with the intelligence to someday reach out and help others.
He was due to graduate the day he was buried. Police, however, cut Cary off from doing his best and being an example for other young Africans who have ambitions of beating the odds set against them, when he was only 25-years-old.
No follow up or investigative explanation has been offered in the nearly two years since their son’s murder. There has been no formal apology—no one really ever expected one.
Some, instead, urge the grieving family to bottle up their tears, let their questions subside and end their pursuit to hold the State system accountable for attacking and killing our children.
The Uhuru Movement proudly supports this family who, much like the Myers, whose 18-year-old son VonDerrit Jr. was killed by cops on October 8, 2014, has decided to keep their child’s memory alive and not fade to black with their hearts bleeding and mouths closed.
We should all hear a justified pride in their son and the chant of champions seeking to tie up the loose ends and get justice and answers for their murdered, firstborn child when we listen to the voices of Toni Taylor and Cary Ball, Sr.
Their truths should ever be on our breath as we stand in solidarity wherever we are to seek the collective justice for our people.
Uhuru!
