Friends, clergy and police plead for community’s help after murder of Overtown boy
As police, community leaders and local ministers flooded Overtown’s streets Thursday night searching for clues into the shooting death of 10-year-old Marlon Eason, those who loved and mentored him tried to make sense of the tragedy by sharing vignettes about a life cut much too short.
His school teacher said Marlon promised her a surprise when he returned from spring break. Another school administrator told how the family brought treats for Marlon’s entire class on his 10th birthday in September. And his mother explained how she got a phone call and rushed home in a panic, only to find her son unresponsive.
“I jumped on my baby and I tried to save my baby. I asked my baby does he need a bandage. And my baby couldn’t even talk to me,” said Elizabeth Ruffin. “That was something you couldn’t put a bandage on. My baby, he didn’t say nothing. My baby didn’t even get a chance to cry.”
Marlon’s life ended early Tuesday night as he chased a basketball he had been dribbling out toward the street. Shots rang out. Family on the front porch of his Northwest Fourth Court home in Overtown and people milling about nearby scattered. A bullet struck the child in the head. He died instantly.
http://www.miamiherald.com/news/local/community/miami-dade/article16441229.html
