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St. Petersburg teen is shot amid the MLK celebrations
By LEANORA MINAI, Times Staff Writer ST. PETERSBURG -- As thousands honored the legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. in a post-parade celebration, a 16-year-old boy was shot in the head just a block away. Martez Green had been standing among 50 people at 22nd Avenue S and Eighth Street, near a strip where revelers traditionally gather to eat and drink after the afternoon parade. "I keep telling him, "That corner is not your way out of the "hood,' " said Green's mother, Sherries Green, 37. "I tell him that constantly." Green, who also goes by Martez Watkins, remained in critical condition Tuesday at All Children's Hospital after four hours of surgery. He is expected to survive, though it is too early to tell whether he will suffer permanent brain damage. No arrest has been made. The shooting occurred even though 90 police officers had been assigned to work the area of the post-parade celebration. "We need to be screaming and shouting as loudly in our community when we're having this black-on-black violence as we do when someone calls us a name," said Darryl Rouson, an attorney and president of the NAACP chapter in St. Petersburg. The shooting was the most serious incident during the parade and post-parade activities, police said. No one was arrested during the events. The shooting happened at 9:18 p.m. in front of 790 22nd Ave. S, the source of a half-dozen complaints about drug law violations in the past year. At first, neighbor Lisa Yates thought the gunfire was firecrackers. "I ran back in my damn house real quick," said Yates, 41. "A bullet ain't got no name." Green was shot after he walked up to a car. Friends drove him to the hospital. When police arrived at the crime scene, all they found was blood. No one would talk about what had happened. Authorities said several pieces of crack cocaine were found on Green, who has a history of arrests on battery and aggravated assault charges. He started getting into trouble when he was 14 after his father, Darryl Watkins, left the house, said his mother. "It went from a two-parent family to a one-parent family, and a whole lot of things happened," said Ms. Green, who works in accounting at the St. Petersburg Times. Watkins, a groundskeeper for the Tampa Bay Devil Rays, stood outside All Children's Hospital on Tuesday. He found it hard to talk. Ms. Green said her son is one of four children and that he suffers from depression. "I really and truly think these kids think the gun goes "Pop!' and nothing happens after that," Ms. Green said. "They don't understand there's consequences." Rouson, the NAACP chapter president, said he was awakened at 2:30 a.m. Tuesday and told about the shooting. He said he drove to the crime scene, known for drugs and prostitution. "I rode through there, and I was flagged down by a couple of guys in my black Jag at 2:30 in the morning. They're holding their hands like, "What's up? Come on.' "
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From the Times South Pinellas desks |
