Devante Stoudemire's Right2Know profile page
On blood-stained grass in front of a small duplex not far from Brainerd High School, a memorial marks where JaMichael Richardson was fatally shot Friday night at 4800 Pawnee Trail.
The memorial was put up Sunday with stuffed animals, flowers and colorful bandanas. Two candles were lit, and friends gathered around the memorial said candles would burn there for the next seven days.
Each of the items symbolized something about Richardson's 22 years of life.
Ashley Fields, who went to elementary, middle and Brainerd High School with him, said her angel candle and flower symbolized love.
"He was real cool," the 20-year-old said. "We was friends -- text here and there."
Another friend looked down at the memorial with a grim expression.
"That was a coward death right there. I don't feel like he should have died like that."
On Sunday, police arrested 18-year-old Devante Stoudemire in connection with Richardson's death. Stoudemire faces a charge of criminal homicide, police spokeswoman Jerri Weary said.
The shooting happened outside the duplex on Pawnee Trail off North Moore Road.
One man, who wouldn't give his name for fear of retaliation, said he was on the porch of the duplex when the shooting occurred.
He said two men who had argued with Richardson two days before came to the house and calmly talked to him for about 15 minutes. Then when Richardson was walking away, one of the men fired three shots and they both ran, he said.
"As soon as he turned his back toward them, they shot him in the back of the head," the man said. "It was close range -- not point blank, but it was close range."
Some of Richardson's friends said his death was related to another nearby shooting that night and possibly was gang-related.
Police responded to a shots-fired call at the nearby intersection of Tomahawk Trail and Woodvale Avenue. They arrested Darrell Armstrong, 24, and Dominique Brown, 18, on charges of possessing a firearm while in commission of a felony and criminal conspiracy to commit aggravated assault.
Talbert Dye, 32, said he has lived on Pawnee Trail for about six months. He said his house was burglarized a few months ago and he had an alarm system installed.
"I know what I'm dealing with over here, but I ain't moving because that [shooting] happened," he said. "But I hate that because that boy got shot -- he ain't even had a Thanksgiving dinner yet."