Print

Email story

Comment

Letter to the editor

A mom's quest for justice

Denise Swisher hasn't solved her son's killing, but she had lowered a city's homicide rate.

By Abhi Raghunathan and Stephanie Garry, Times Staff Writers
Published March 2, 2008

Denise Swisher and her stepson Andre Hitchcock, 9, hand out fliers on the corner of 18th Avenue South and 34th Street South in St. Petersburg on Saturday.
	[Lance Aram Rothstein | Times]

ADVERTISEMENT [Lance Aram Rothstein | Times] Shanice Swisher, 15, and her mom Denise Swisher.

ST. PETERSBURG - The pain in the pit of Denise Swisher's stomach still has not subsided.

Almost two years after her son was shot dead, she visits his grave every day. Her life has become a memorial to the bright 18-year-old who was headed to college.

Powerless to bring him back, Swisher tries to bring his killer to justice.

She comes here, to the busiest southside intersection she knows, to do what she can.

"We're trying to solve a murder. You willing to help?" Swisher asked a young woman, leaning into the window of a red Mustang.

Swisher and a cadre of loved ones handed out thousands of fliers on Saturday, hoping the community would call in tips. They held signs that read, "Stop killing our babies" and "Thou Shalt Not Kill."

Even now, Swisher is certain that her son's murder will be solved.

Swisher, 37, believes in change. She's seen it happen.

***

Forbes "P-Nut" Swisher earned his nickname because his chubby cheeks looked like they were full of peanuts. He grew up playing football and flirting with girls. He was a prom court member who won acceptance to Bethune-Cookman College.

One day in May 2006, a friend called P-Nut for help. Dozens of kids were fighting. At some point, a couple of them started firing guns. A bullet struck P-Nut in the head.

Denise Swisher grieved. Then she began a crusade to reduce the murder rate in St. Petersburg.

She wandered through the city's toughest neighborhoods, passing out fliers and offering help to hardened youths. She invited kids over to her house, worked as a mediator to prevent fistfights from turning into gunbattles.

Since then, for the seven months after she began her efforts, not a single person has died from gunfire south of St. Petersburg's Central Avenue.

But despite the widespread respect she enjoyed among both police and the city's youths, P-Nut's killer has not been apprehended. Police say they know who killed P-Nut, but they need witnesses willing to testify.

***

Tekila Clark, 20, never wants to see Swisher cry.

An old friend of P-Nut's, Clark calls his mother every day to check on her, make sure she's eaten, ask her if she wants something from the mall.

"I have to worry to make sure she's all right," said Clark, who drove from Tallahassee to help hand out fliers.

But when she feels the tears are coming, she finds a reason to leave.

P-Nut's cousin Nicole Swisher, 30, said she feels like St. Petersburg police have given up on the case. She thinks the deaths will continue as long as the killers go free.

"We're not the police. You can't take the law into your own hands," Nicole Swisher said. "This is all we can do."

P-Nut's oldest sibling, Dale Swisher, 21, stood near Clark as tricked-out cars drove by blaring music. He doesn't usually come out to help his mom. He doesn't like to think about the murder.

"I know he's in a better place. Nothing else can happen to him," he said. "I'm just worried about her."

On the other side of the intersection of 34th Street S and 18th Avenue, Swisher flagged down cars and showed a driver her tattoo. On her forearm is P-Nut's face with the words "my beautiful baby."

A homeless woman rode by on a bright yellow bike and asked Swisher for some more fliers to hand out. P-Nut used to give her money for food, Swisher explained.

After two hours, Swisher and her devotees gathered near her car. The license plate reads "RIP PNUT." Her daughter Shanice, 15, who's been handing out fliers too, told her mother how hard she's been working.

"I'm so proud of you," Swisher said, hugging her youngest child and smiling. "I might just cook dinner tonight."

To help

If you have any information about the death of P-Nut Swisher or any other unsolved homicide in the city, call the St. Petersburg Police Department's homicide unit at (727) 893-7164 or communications center at (727) 893-7780.

[Last modified March 1, 2008, 21:53:01]