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Wounded boy's world: 'A terrible street'
By LEANORA MINAI, Times Staff Writer
ST. PETERSBURG -- Martha Davis, fatigued from an all-night hospital vigil with her injured grandson, sat outside her Childs Park home Thursday and recalled the child's troubled beginnings. Corey was born with crack cocaine in his system, said the 63-year-old grandmother. "I got Corey when he was 10 days old," Mrs. Davis said. Now 9, Corey never was far from drugs. In fact, they were being peddled under a shade tree at the end of his grandmother's driveway. "All the time," Mrs. Davis said. Just before 6 p.m. Wednesday, Corey was shot in the abdomen when he got caught in the cross-fire of a gunfight in front of the Davis home. Recovering at All Children's Hospital, Corey opened his eyes Thursday and told his grandmother he was thirsty. It was a reassuring moment for a grandmother whose own daughter -- Corey's mother -- has had her own struggles with crack cocaine. And the struggles have gone well beyond a daughter's addiction. Since 2001, 72 calls for police service have been lodged about, or from, the Davis property at 3928 8th Ave. S, police records show. Twenty-three complaints have been about drugs: young men sitting in chairs under a shade tree at the end of Davis' driveway, selling dope to passing motorists. In March, a shootout occurred in front of the Davis house as students from the University of Alabama worked on a Habitat for Humanity house across the street. On Thursday, detectives arrested Johntavius A. Johnson, 18, one of the suspects in Wednesday's shooting, though Johnson has not been charged in that case. The investigation has been thwarted by witnesses unwilling to tell officers who was involved. "We need those people," said homicide Sgt. Mike Puetz. "We have a 9-year-old child in a hospital, and two people, maybe more, running around with guns who are responsible for this." 'A terrible street'It was 1998 when Corey's grandmother called police about people hanging out on her property, selling or doing drugs. She gave police permission to warn or arrest them. "This is a real terrible street," Mrs. Davis, who has lived there 24 years, said Thursday. Police say the situation at the Davis house is complicated. They do not think Mrs. Davis, who has 31 grandchildren, is involved in illegal activity. But, they say, people who hang out in front of the property know some of the young adults inside. "She's a little bit scared, maybe intimidated by the young people who come out there," said Sgt. Keith Glasgow. When officers arrive to investigate drug-dealing complaints, suspects either run into Davis' yard or into the house, Glasgow said. "That area is very transient for drug dealing," he said. Neighbor Annie Person said Mrs. Davis has tried to stop illegal activity in front of her house. The words "no trespassing" are painted on the trunk of the shade tree. "She can't stop it," said Mrs. Person, 58. "She tells them to move further down." Davis couldn't even stop her daughter, Angela Davis, now 37, from drugs. A year after Corey was born, Angela Davis -- Corey's mother -- was arrested and charged with sale and possession of crack cocaine. She pleaded guilty and was placed on probation, but she was arrested while on probation for selling and possessing cocaine. Said Mrs. Davis of her daughter: "She's not around." 'Enough is enough'Childs Park residents say the crime problem has festered for years, but they vow to keep looking for solutions. "We have to learn how to stand up and say, "Enough is enough.' We as a community have to become involved," said Armanda Lampley, who heads the Childs Park Neighborhood Association. "Also, there's just not enough police on the street." St. Petersburg police say they fight crime in Childs Park with patrol officers, narcotics officers and community officers who work closely with residents. "We come at it from a lot of different angles," said police spokesman Rick Stelljes. "The patrol officers know where the trouble spots are. The community officers know where the drug holes are." The city's Weed and Seed drug-fighting program is on the verge of expanding into Childs Park. If that happens, the neighborhood would receive federal money and more attention in the areas of housing, social services and crime. On Wednesday, the problems in the 3900 block of 8th Avenue S spiraled out of control. Mrs. Davis said she was inside the house cooking spaghetti and meatballs for dinner while Corey recorded music from some of his favorite singers -- Ashanti and Ja Rule -- on a cassette. He heard the ice cream truck, and his grandmother gave him a dollar for a strawberry Italian ice. As Corey made his way back to the house, a dark gray car pulled up. A man got out and started shooting, residents said. At least one person inside the Davis house returned fire, police said. Police say six shots were fired, one hitting Corey and another striking the leg of Johnson, the 18-year-old who was arrested. Mrs. Davis ran outside after she heard gunfire, then the screams of her grandson crying out for her. "I don't know how it started," she said of Wednesday's fight. "I didn't see anybody." Puetz, the homicide sergeant, said a fight a week ago at a St. Petersburg bar might have provoked Wednesday's shooting. "There was some friction between Mr. Johnson and another individual," Puetz said. Corey's grandmother spent Thursday at the hospital with Corey, who is expected to recover, but will have to wear a colostomy bag for six weeks. On Thursday evening, Corey was surrounded by balloons and family members, including two sisters who kissed his cheeks and gave him a stuffed Tasmanian devil. -- Times staff writers Mike Brassfield and Alicia Caldwell and researcher Kitty Bennett contributed to this report.
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