Gang Rape In Dunbar Village In West Palm Beach, Florida
On the 18th of June in 2007, at 9 in the evening, a 35-year-old woman came home to her apartment in the Dunbar Village housing project in West Palm Beach, Florida. She had just finished up a long day of delivering telephone books and she was tired.
She had immigrated to the United States in 2000 from Haiti with her then five-year-old son, hoping for a better life.
Before she went upstairs to bed, she and her son had started to make something downstairs in the kitchen for dinner when there was a knock at the door.
A young black male was at the door, his hair in braids. The teenager told her that her truck had a few flat tires and that she should come and look at them.
Following the apparent “good samaritan” outside, she hadn’t taken more than a few steps when three teenagers – all wearing masks and all carrying guns – pointed the weapons at her and told her to get back into her apartment.
They hit her, knocking her to the floor. They pushed her son down to the floor as well.
They demanded money, which she didn’t have.
Incensed at the lack of easy money in the apartment, the four boys beat the woman and her son, stripped the woman of her clothing, took her to the bedroom and raped her over and over, with each boy taking his turn.
Her son was held at gunpoint, forced to watch.
As they raped and sodomized her, she cried out in pain and fear.
Nobody came to help, not then, not when she heard her son cry out when they stripped him naked as well, sporadically breaking lightbulbs and plates on his head.
Up to five other teenagers did arrive, but they had come to join in on the raping and cruelty.
These other teenagers also raped and sodomized the woman, recording it all for posterity on a cell phone.
Eventually, after everyone had their turn with the woman in her upstairs bedroom, they brought her son upstairs at gunpoint. Holding a gun to the 12-year-old’s head, the gang forced his mother to perform oral sex on him.
It is unclear as to whether or not mother and son were forced to have sex with each other.
When everyone had finished abusing the woman sexually, they forced her into the bathtub, which they filled with vinegar and water. They poured common household cleaning products over her, such as hydrogen peroxide, rubbing alcohol, nail polish remover and ammonia-based cleaning solution.
Some ammonia was also thrown into her son’s eyes.
They forced a bar of soap into her vagina, hoping to remove physical evidence.
While they were doing this, the gang also threw ammonia into her son’s eyes.
After the group was convinced that they had disposed of the evidence, someone suggested setting the mother and her son on fire. After searching for – but not finding – a lighter, the group left, warning the pair that if they got out of the tub, they’d be killed.
30 minutes later, while the mother and her son were still in the tub, crying in pain, one of the teenagers returned to sexually assault the woman one more time. He wrote a man’s name and 6-CO – a different man and a different gang than the one that had gang-raped this family – on a piece of paper, telling her that he could be found on Sixth street.
As he left, he took the Playstation 2 with him.
The woman and her son stayed in the apartment for two hours after the attack. Nobody came to investigate the screams, nobody called the police for help.
Because their assailants had stolen their cell phone, their home phone and their fax machine, they were unable to call for assistance themselves.
It was a long walk to the Good Samaritan Medical Center, but they walked the mile together, two hours after the attack ended.
They were badly injured. The 12-year-old had to be immobilized for more than two days on his hospital bed, with bandages covering both eyes and a two-inch gash on the top of his skull.
There was a mild public outcry.
14-year-old Avion Lawson was the first to be arrested. He confessed after investigators let him know that his DNA had been found in a condom recovered at the apartment. While being driven to the Juvenile Assessment Center, Avion called some friends and laughingly told them what was going on. Avion Lawson has been charged with armed sexual battery by multiple perpetrators, armed home invasion, aggravated battery and sexual assault.
The next idiot to be picked up was 16-year-old Nathan Walker. Nathan Walker is a seventh-grade dropout, who called it quits after failing three times. His fingerprint was found at the apartment and his DNA was found on the outside of the condom Avion Lawson had used. When Nathan Walker was brought into the police station, he flipped out, throwing chairs at the walls until guards were able to put him in handcuffs and leg restraints.
On July 15th, Jakaris Taylor, a 15-year-old whose younger brother played with the 12-year-old he assaulted, was arrested. During interrogation, he was asked why he didn’t stop his friends, to which he replied, “I don’t know.” When he was asked why he did it, he shrugged his shoulders.
The latest rapist to be charged is 18-year-old Tommy Lee Poindexter, who was, on August 16th, indicted by a grand jury that saw “unspecified physical evidence” and charged him with sexual battery, kidnapping and burglary. – 14 counts in all.
Although Mr. Poindexter denied being involved and his mother, 44-year-old Harriet Rodgers, has claimed her precious Tommy was at home with her that night, the evidence prosecutors presented was considered “fairly damning.”
Prosecutors are chomping at the bit, pledging to ask for the maximum penalty for all the teens involved and refusing to entertain the idea of plea bargains for anyone.
Despite the youth of the individuals involved, they all face the possibility of life in an adult prison.
No juvenile hall for these dogs.
West Palm Beach police spokesman Peter Robbins told the press, “We’re certainly developing more suspects and anticipate more arrests.”
Too bad the death penalty is off the table in this particular instance. Life in prison seems too good.
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41 Comments »
jesus, one person would be bad enough but i did not think there was anywhere on this planet that you would find a group of ppl willing to do this and not one of them trying to stop it!!! discusting! they all deserve to die in jail, they should be made to sit in a bath of acid and die a horrible death! sickos.
Oh my GOD. What is wrong with people? What inspires them to want to do this kind of thing to other people? It’s just sick.
The entire neighborhood needs to be cleaned and burned.
Words fail me. MIld public outcry?? People should be up in arms that this is what fourteen year olds are capable of! And like someone has already said – it wasn’t just one sick individual but a gang. Here’s hoping that they are tried as adults and that they are given life sentences – just like they’re victims now have. Unbelievable.
They are black. If publick outcry would be loud then there would be riots. “Oh those poor poor boys had such a hard life. Mommy couldn’t afford to buy them the shoes they wanted so they lashed out….”
Take them out back, skin them, toss some salt water in their bare asses then let then rot.
The police should wade it to that complex and wipe the scum out. I live in Ireland and and bad areas are cleaned up with police and if there afraid to go there vigilantes. No messing blow them out of it.
Sounds like a bunch of idiots to me. Good thing they got caught though. The poor mother and child… =0(
nathan walker ha we support him and his family we work and pay for this genius to eat wow harriet rodgers parent of the yr also a welfare product welfare animals we pay for this trash to survive only in america they would starve 2 death in africa
Will (comment #7): you’re a moron. first, learn how to write a complete sentence. then, learn how to be a human being. i suggest an emphasis on being just a little less bigoted.
does anybody know if there’s been a verdict for this losers already? admin, do you perhaps know about that? i hope they get the hardest sentence possible. what a couple of animals… scarry that they can life in this world.
These things that are worse than some humans labelled as animals are just plain sick. Whatever they get is too good for what they did to the Mother and Child.
Let’s just hope they are treated as well in prison as they treated their victims.
I would have begged them to kill me before I performed any such act on my child..Those sick cowardly dogs…I have two sons and two daughters….SCARY
The gun was to the childs head, not the mothers. And if she had begged them to kill her and they obliged, she would’ve left her son ALONE to face these animals. She did what she had to to survive and protect her child as much as she could.
OMG!!! I honestly thought this can’t be true! Then googled it and unfortunately saw it was! THOSE POOR PEOPLE! WTF! You mean to tell me NO ONE HEARD A THING! WHat’s WORSE is Ya know they did and did NOTHING ABOUT IT! WHAT A FUCKING ASS HOLE TO THEN Take off with the kids play station! I AM APPALLED!!!
The problem is that there are alot of areas in America that are so similar to Dunbar Village Projects and most of the people living in all most every Project building are afraid to report any crime because they know that them or one of there love ones will get hurt…I knew several young kids that were actually being forced to sell drugs for a kingpin in one of the worst projects in our city and the police couldn’t do a thing because everyone was afraid.This isn’t a movie where a good cop comes along and shoot up the bad guys and everyone lives happily ever after because in real life usually someone innocent always get hurt….
Man. Why always the innocent people? That’s so messed up. I agree with some people, clean it up and burn it to the ground. I hope they all die a horrible death. I hope they get there arms burnt off and the rest of their bodies eaten by rabid chickens.
[...] Surprisingly, not everyone wants the death penalty on the table as a possible punishment for certain, heinous crimes. [...]
This poor mom and little boy.How could they walk a mile to the hospital with no one stopping to help?Although look at how this started: she took a chance to have contact with a stranger who came to her door.I guess people are afraid.I wish these two lost souls could be placed into the witness protection program and given a fresh start. That is tax money well spent.The lesson is keep your teens at home because once the “mob mentality” takes over they will all jump in. It has happened with white fraternity boys just the same.Find me one man who is not ruled by his disgusting sexual urges at some point or another. SAD
WARNING! DO NOT MAKE THIS INTO A RACIAL ARGUMENT!!
I was watching 60 minutes last night, and they had a story about the Congo and the women who are being raped, murdered and tortured.
It was terrifying. They said that in many villages as many as 90% of the women had been gang raped. And, it was violent, horrifying, twisted stuff.
Like forcing family members to watch and PARTICIPATE in the rapes. Killing family members during the rapes. Using bottles and even bayonets to rape the women. Kidnapping the women, leaving their children behind – never to be seen again.
Sick stuff.
And, yet,m here in the US, we are seeing some of the same behaviors. The gang mentality, the roving packs of killer/rapists the dominance actions.
WHY?
Someone, please answer that. WHY? (And not maritak – we know why you think so, and don’t care. thanks).
http://www.cbsnews.com/stories/2008/01/11/60minutes/main3701249.shtml
You’re right Maz, this has absolutely nothing to do with race. I read the entire article, it’s so obvious that it’s about power and dominance and, most of all, that four letter word, politics. A group comes into the village and announces that it’s in charge now, and proves it by raping women and forcing the rest of the villagers to watch, as if to say: “See what we can do, right in your face, and there’s nothing you can do about it. Nothing. And the guys that used to be in charge, they can’t do anything either, and neither can your government. So do what we say.” You see how that works Maz.
It would be the same thing here. If a gang claims a street & says “This is OUR street now”. Then kicks in your door and gang rapes your friend in front of you and everyone else in the house. Then the brag about it, and threaten to do the same and worse to anybody who talks to the cops. So no one says anything and they rule the street. Not the city, not the police, THEY DO.
You put it extremely succinctly Max.
I guess the question is not so much “why” as “wtf can we DO about it”?
I was stunned while watching last night – there was a british woman (white) interviewed, and she is there trying to help the poor victims. And I thought to myself, what a RISK she is taking. Being not only a woman, but a white woman, and thus a very visable woman, even if she had armed guards surrounding her 24/7, it seems that she is quite vulnerable.
We can’t all do that. And, frankly – as much as my heart aches for the Conganese (not sure if that is correct or not) women, I am far more concerned with stopping this HERE in the US.
I am afraid that it will only get worse, and we are setting ourselves up for some really bad stuff.
We can’t catch half of the crooks, the few we catch, we can’t prosecute, and we don’t punish the ones we do prosecute harshly enough. And we STILL have 2.5 million inmates.
The scales of justice are stacked against the law-abiding citizens, and no one seems to be trying to solve the problem.
SWEET JESUS! i hit the jackpot cos i got me four darkies to hang you wantto be bad ass thn i got ape food you can eat each other like savage ape i got rope and fixin to find a tree fer you!! no good darkies!
This is absolutely disgusting. What the hell goes thru their minds? Is this supposed to be FUN?
As for maritaK…WHITE PEOPLE RAPE AND MURDER TOO!
Your racism just makes you sound like the fool you are.
My mum always gave me the advice that its better to keep quiet and risk looking like a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt. You sir are a fool and there is no doubt about that.
Stories like this kill me. What will have to happen for us to be able to use the death penalty on these pieces of shit?!
-Removal of the stupid ass liberal judges.
-The public getting MAD and making it a hot issue.
-Some good strong leaders who will push this against the vocal minority.
-A little cooperation from the media.
That is a start… but none of it’s gonna happen.
My hubby and I joke that when Obama gets his reality check, we are going to plant about 20 of his signs in our front lawn, and make sure all the weapons are loaded in case that doesn’t work. We are expecting riots, and even though we live in a nice quiet secure neighborhood, we are still just a few miles from the city. I have rarely ever hoped so much to be wrong, but I am not taking any chances.
Unfortunately we dont have the death penalty AT ALL here in Australia and the sentences are usually pretty piss weak too.
Here, you rape someone and get say, 8 years, you can be out in three if your a good little prisoner.
i’m glad you said to not make it a racial issue, mazzi. i am a black female (married, 2 kids, f/t job, college sudent- NO WELFARE) and i and every other black person i know are shocked, appalled and ashamed these scumbags are black. not all of us are statistics, not all of us commit heinous crimes, and not all of us live by “no snitching” and would ignore a neighbor’s cries for help.
every pos that participated (and mama rodgers- it’s easy to see why her baby went wrong) need to be publicly executed then burn in hell. i’m sure there’s a special seat right next to satan for all of them!
Rape is never about sex, its about power.
It touches every race and gender.
But this was beyond rape. This was pack animal behaviour. This was a horrendous crime and although hell is supposed the be the worst punishment available, i dont think its enough. How could ANY punishment EVER be enough?
what. the. fuuuuuuck.
Yeah, i know…absolute animals.
O…my…god! I am just sitting here in shock. How could they?..I can’t believe one of them was calling the others laughing about it after he got picked up! Animals like this NEVER CHANGE! They need the death penalty. I dont care how they grew up..none of that matters! There is no excuse! That poor woman and her son. Proper justice would be to let them exact a punishment of their choice on these bastards!
It’s been a while since I read this story. I tried to find out if they had been sntenced, and all I could turn up is that Taylor had reached a plea that would give him 20 years. I did find some stuff about AL SHARPTON in regards to this case,though. He didn’t think that it was fair that they were not granted bail. We were just talking about that douchebag.
Damn..i kinda liked Al Sharpton:’( just because of the Sean Bell case, but I just lost all respect for him if he was defending rapists!
Oh, there are so many more reason to dislike him than just this one!
Aw..well I am kinda naive (and youngI didn’t really follow current events till my junior year in high school five years ago). I really didn’t pay him that much attention till the Sean Bell case. Then when I started looking into him some more I came upon the whole Tawana Brawley fiasco I was highly dissapointed that he had anything to do with that. So I am starting to lose the little respect I had for him.
i haven’t like al sharpton in… well, maybe forever. but this really cemented it for me. it’s not fair that the attacker weren’t given bail? yeah, well neither is sexually and physically assaulting an innocent mother and child!!!
this is pure fuckery.
I believe the reason he was so upset about this case is basically because “Someone else somewhere else got bail for their rape case, so these guys deserve bail too.”
Myself, I would be attacking the OTHER judge for giving the OTHER rapists any bail. Where are the priorities?!
if i recall correctly, the other case was an aquaintace rape that may or may not have been consensual (correct me if i’m wrong, you guys) and al sharpton’s argument was that that case with the white people had bail, and the case with the blacks didn’t. everything is racial with this guy. and in no way do the two cases even compare to one another. there’s no way in hell the savages that committed this atrocity deserve bail. and that’s coming from a black woman.
That’s what nerves me about Sharpton. It’s not about the facts, it’s about black and white. There is more than one type of racism, and he repulses me. I saw a cartoon once where Sharpton prayed for a world without racism. Then he disappeared. haha. The kids that committed this crime deserve every ounce of punishment available.
I could not finish this after I read where they made her do oral sex on her own son.
I don’t care if they are black, green, pink or white. Those mother F’ers need to have their thingys cut off shoved up their azzes and then shove it in their mouths and after that put a fricking bullet hole between their eyes. Every fricking one of them should die!
I just don’t know what I would do in this situation other than pray. That poor child. He will always have those thoughts in his head of his mother being savagely raped. We had a case of a woman in my town that ws stabbed several times outside of her apartment at 6:00 in the evening and no one saw anything. She lived in row housing and no one heard her screaming even though her boyfriend was following her around her apartment and repeatedly stabbing her. He stabbed her like 50 times and you tell me that no one saw or heard anything. He left her little baby in the apartment with her for about a day a half. Tell me no one heard that baby crying because it was hungry. People need to stop being concerned with inconvenincing themselves and do something.