Justice for Angelo.
Donativo protegido
Hi. My name is Joanne Solomon.
Before you begin reading this story I need to clarify that I am a big supporter of our police force. They put their lives on the line for our protection, the biggest sacrifice one could make. My nephew plans to join the force and this is a good thing as we need people working in our neighborhoods who understand the nuances of the culture they serve. Unfortunately there are times when mistakes are made or poor judgement is exhibited, and this case is an example of this.
The reason why I am reaching out to you is my brother was found dead in the basement of his home on March 26, 2017, from a single gunshot wound to the head with a 12 gauge, 18.5 in Remington in North Philadelphia. To the surprise of neighbors, friends, and family, in less than one hour of accessing the scene, it was ruled a suicide, yet no evidence was collected: gunshot residue, fingerprints, splatter analysis - nothing! The investigator of this case only provided photographs of the scene and made mention of his living conditions and candles he lit for his son who passed away last year as proof that he may have been depressed and committed suicide. We find this statement truly amazing since they did not know my brother nor did they question family or friends who knew him best.
In our opinion, the police, medical examiner, and primarily, the lead investigator treated this case in a hasty and sloppy manner, and they allowed their biases about the appearance of his living space to effect their judgement. One of the many examples of this was a statement made by the lead investigator. As proof that he was probably depressed and commited suicide she stated, "did you see how he was living in that basement." We were astounded by this remark. The two have nothing to do with each other. He chose to live the way he did for reasons neither he nor the family have to justify. We have video footage of him happily playing in this same space with his loved mix pit and Chihuahua. Further, she described the candles lit to honor his deceased son as a "shrine," a culturally insensitive remark since a high majority of Latinos are Catholics and lighting candles to our deceased loved ones is the norm. My brother, not being overly religious, chose to do this in his home.
Yet another example of the sloppiness of this case was only one of the four people living with my brother was interviewed and he knew my brother the least. It was unfortunate that he did not present a favorable picture of my brother to police which may have contributed to their bias and poor judgement, and he now regrets the remarks he shared as he has had an opportunity to hear from many people who my brother really was.
Before my brother's body was removed from the house, family members who were present at the scene, our mother, sister, brother in law, nephews, and my brother's girlfriend, were asked to go to the precinct to be questioned late that night. However, they were left waiting for 1.5 hours only to be forgotten and told they were free to leave. Why? First, I find this appalling that a grieving family would be treated this way, and secondly, our input that night would have provided valuable insight into my brother's life that should have raised the doubt necessary to rule this a possible homocide. My sister now regrets this decision to follow the police as the crime scene was left open for anyone to enter and steal my brother's belongings , and they did. The day after my brother's death, his credit card was used at several locations in the North Philadelpia area by the very person we suspect may have been involved in my brother's death.
Part of me understands how this can happen. Crime in these neighborhoods is at an all time high and the force is stretch thin. However, our experience in trying to deal with the Philadelphia police has been as painful as knowing our brother is no longer with us. In our attempts to share information we have gathered as to a suspect, motive, and things that were out of the ordinary in the scene the police encountered, we have been yelled at, told "it is what it is", and "I am going to hang up." Only a two days after my brother's death and one day after frustrating exchange with the lead investigator of the case, I attempted to speak with someone higher up in the precinct. This person too yelled into the phone and hung up.
We want to know what really happened to our loved one. He was so loved and brought so much joy to his mother, sisters, nephews, and friends. There is not a single person who knows my brother who believes that he committed suicide, and we have evidence that he may have been set up, murdered, and the scene staged to appear as a suicide. We want justice for my brother and accountablility from this precinct that all to often treats the community they serve poorly and with amazing disregard. According to the funeral director in this neighborhood and others I have spoken with,this story is repeated too often by other families in similar circumstances in this neighborhood served by this precinct. .
The detective of this case now admits that a lot of mistakes were made, but they still refuse to do anything about it. Case closed. The investigator has blamed the medical examiner for the suicide ruling and for the scene being left open for anyone to enter. On the otherhand, the examiner said she had to base her findings on her visual observations as well as police information. The examiner stated to me that given the information I later shared with her, she would have probably ruled it a possible homicide.
One week after finding my brother, the same investigator came back to the house to take pictures of an empty and sanitized home. Three weeks after his death, the investigator finally took the time to hear what my sister had to share about the evidence we had and our own suspicions - evidence and testimony I spent 3 weeks collecting. My sister said the investigator was taking notes. For what? Kind of late. We perceive her notetaking so late in the process as a way to cover her tracks. Five weeks after his death, we have been invited to speak with the chief of police as a result of a community police officer and high school friend of my younger sister who read our story, was outraged, and shared this with his chief.
We have lost all confidence in the precincts ability to do their jobs with integrity and due diligence. We want closure and peace. We want to know what happened to our brother that day. It appears that in the daily grind of doing their jobs, the investigator and medical examiner treated this case much too casually.
As a family, we have collected an abundance of evidence and video footgage to help us piece together what may have happened to Angelo, but without funds we can go no further than just having information.
We intend to use any funds collected to have an independent investigation to include a ballistics and a computerized reenactment of the shooting to know if it was even plausible for him to have done this to himself. We are also hiring a private investigator to help piece the events leading up to and around my brother's death. If it turns out that it was not possible, then we will need and a lawyer who will help us navigate what to do next. If it turns out that it was highly likely that he could have done this, we still want to find out what can be done to change the culture of police in this precinct and how they go about investigations so that no other family has to suffer the way we are suffering.
Please help us seek justice for my brother. Even a dollar is one step closer to closure and justice.
Thank you you for taking the time to read. I know it was a lot. Again, please feel free to comment on how to help me pair it down while preserving the main message.
Sincerely,
Joanne (Colon) Solomon
Before you begin reading this story I need to clarify that I am a big supporter of our police force. They put their lives on the line for our protection, the biggest sacrifice one could make. My nephew plans to join the force and this is a good thing as we need people working in our neighborhoods who understand the nuances of the culture they serve. Unfortunately there are times when mistakes are made or poor judgement is exhibited, and this case is an example of this.
The reason why I am reaching out to you is my brother was found dead in the basement of his home on March 26, 2017, from a single gunshot wound to the head with a 12 gauge, 18.5 in Remington in North Philadelphia. To the surprise of neighbors, friends, and family, in less than one hour of accessing the scene, it was ruled a suicide, yet no evidence was collected: gunshot residue, fingerprints, splatter analysis - nothing! The investigator of this case only provided photographs of the scene and made mention of his living conditions and candles he lit for his son who passed away last year as proof that he may have been depressed and committed suicide. We find this statement truly amazing since they did not know my brother nor did they question family or friends who knew him best.
In our opinion, the police, medical examiner, and primarily, the lead investigator treated this case in a hasty and sloppy manner, and they allowed their biases about the appearance of his living space to effect their judgement. One of the many examples of this was a statement made by the lead investigator. As proof that he was probably depressed and commited suicide she stated, "did you see how he was living in that basement." We were astounded by this remark. The two have nothing to do with each other. He chose to live the way he did for reasons neither he nor the family have to justify. We have video footage of him happily playing in this same space with his loved mix pit and Chihuahua. Further, she described the candles lit to honor his deceased son as a "shrine," a culturally insensitive remark since a high majority of Latinos are Catholics and lighting candles to our deceased loved ones is the norm. My brother, not being overly religious, chose to do this in his home.
Yet another example of the sloppiness of this case was only one of the four people living with my brother was interviewed and he knew my brother the least. It was unfortunate that he did not present a favorable picture of my brother to police which may have contributed to their bias and poor judgement, and he now regrets the remarks he shared as he has had an opportunity to hear from many people who my brother really was.
Before my brother's body was removed from the house, family members who were present at the scene, our mother, sister, brother in law, nephews, and my brother's girlfriend, were asked to go to the precinct to be questioned late that night. However, they were left waiting for 1.5 hours only to be forgotten and told they were free to leave. Why? First, I find this appalling that a grieving family would be treated this way, and secondly, our input that night would have provided valuable insight into my brother's life that should have raised the doubt necessary to rule this a possible homocide. My sister now regrets this decision to follow the police as the crime scene was left open for anyone to enter and steal my brother's belongings , and they did. The day after my brother's death, his credit card was used at several locations in the North Philadelpia area by the very person we suspect may have been involved in my brother's death.
Part of me understands how this can happen. Crime in these neighborhoods is at an all time high and the force is stretch thin. However, our experience in trying to deal with the Philadelphia police has been as painful as knowing our brother is no longer with us. In our attempts to share information we have gathered as to a suspect, motive, and things that were out of the ordinary in the scene the police encountered, we have been yelled at, told "it is what it is", and "I am going to hang up." Only a two days after my brother's death and one day after frustrating exchange with the lead investigator of the case, I attempted to speak with someone higher up in the precinct. This person too yelled into the phone and hung up.
We want to know what really happened to our loved one. He was so loved and brought so much joy to his mother, sisters, nephews, and friends. There is not a single person who knows my brother who believes that he committed suicide, and we have evidence that he may have been set up, murdered, and the scene staged to appear as a suicide. We want justice for my brother and accountablility from this precinct that all to often treats the community they serve poorly and with amazing disregard. According to the funeral director in this neighborhood and others I have spoken with,this story is repeated too often by other families in similar circumstances in this neighborhood served by this precinct. .
The detective of this case now admits that a lot of mistakes were made, but they still refuse to do anything about it. Case closed. The investigator has blamed the medical examiner for the suicide ruling and for the scene being left open for anyone to enter. On the otherhand, the examiner said she had to base her findings on her visual observations as well as police information. The examiner stated to me that given the information I later shared with her, she would have probably ruled it a possible homicide.
One week after finding my brother, the same investigator came back to the house to take pictures of an empty and sanitized home. Three weeks after his death, the investigator finally took the time to hear what my sister had to share about the evidence we had and our own suspicions - evidence and testimony I spent 3 weeks collecting. My sister said the investigator was taking notes. For what? Kind of late. We perceive her notetaking so late in the process as a way to cover her tracks. Five weeks after his death, we have been invited to speak with the chief of police as a result of a community police officer and high school friend of my younger sister who read our story, was outraged, and shared this with his chief.
We have lost all confidence in the precincts ability to do their jobs with integrity and due diligence. We want closure and peace. We want to know what happened to our brother that day. It appears that in the daily grind of doing their jobs, the investigator and medical examiner treated this case much too casually.
As a family, we have collected an abundance of evidence and video footgage to help us piece together what may have happened to Angelo, but without funds we can go no further than just having information.
We intend to use any funds collected to have an independent investigation to include a ballistics and a computerized reenactment of the shooting to know if it was even plausible for him to have done this to himself. We are also hiring a private investigator to help piece the events leading up to and around my brother's death. If it turns out that it was not possible, then we will need and a lawyer who will help us navigate what to do next. If it turns out that it was highly likely that he could have done this, we still want to find out what can be done to change the culture of police in this precinct and how they go about investigations so that no other family has to suffer the way we are suffering.
Please help us seek justice for my brother. Even a dollar is one step closer to closure and justice.
Thank you you for taking the time to read. I know it was a lot. Again, please feel free to comment on how to help me pair it down while preserving the main message.
Sincerely,
Joanne (Colon) Solomon
Organizador
Joanne Solomon
Organizador
Philadelphia, PA