Watching the news the other day, it was reported that an elderly woman in Oakland had been shot to death in her car. There didn't appear to be any motivation for the murder, and I haven't heard anything about it since. No riots were initiated. No rallies, no national outcry. Of course, this sort of violence isn't something Oakland is unfamiliar with.
I've read about babies being shot and killed, elderly people, young people, and everything in between gunned down and forgotten on the streets of Oakland. Unsolved murders left and right and no answers in sight. One in particular sticks in mind above all the rest, and that's the murder of Paris Powell.
Powell ran a small non-profit called The Rise Above Foundation, and spending his own time and money he would deliver meals to homeless people on the streets of Oakland. Powell was doing exactly that in July of 2011 when he was unceremoniously shot to death in front of his wife and children. Two years later his murder, like so many others, remains unsolved.
What sickens me about the violence perpetrated on Oakland's streets is that each atrocity creates a sense that these crimes are expectations and not exceptions. This defeatist mentality plays out daily in the media when these stories get limited airtime and zero followup. No Scott Pelly looking gravely into the camera from his newsdesk, no rioters, no outcry, no demonstrators, just damaged men, women, and children to pick up the pieces.
With Powell, I find his story especially tragic because he was doing everything right, was killed for it, and his legacy is a post-it note on some OPD homicide detective's desk. Underachievers and scum get movies and Muni service disruptions, heroes get obscure Patch blogs. The injustice is palpable.
With that, I thought I'd post the only "lead" that OPD had to offer at the time. Remember people like Paris Powell, and realize that even if the media doesn't are about them, that doesn't mean you can't. I wish the best to his wife and children, and hopefully one day the animals who killed him will be caught.
Time of death: approximately 12:30 AM.
Suspect vehicle: described today as a turquoise Ford Windstar minivan, with a make year of 2001 or more recent
