Jan. 29, 2004: Bullets find teen who had cheated death

More than a year ago, a bullet intended for 17-year-old gang member Timothy Oliver pierced the wall of Tyesha Edwards' home and killed the 11-year-old as she did her homework at the dining room table.

Early Wednesday, Oliver was once again the target of gunfire, but this time he was shot dead as he stood alone on a street in south Minneapolis.

"This wasn't a random act," Minneapolis Police Lt. Mike Carlson said.

While police wouldn't comment on the motive, Carlson said the suspects weren't from the rival gang that had fired eight bullets at Oliver on Nov. 22, 2002.

Oliver's death is Minneapolis' first homicide of the year. He was hit by several shots that were fired about 2:40 a.m. in the 2100 block of Elliot Av. S. in the Phillips neighborhood. While officers were en route, they learned that Oliver was being driven to the hospital by acquaintances. He died at the Hennepin County Medical Center in Minneapolis about 10 minutes later.

A suspect was arrested Wednesday in St. Paul in the killing, police said. They wouldn't say what role they think he played.

When asked if the shooting was drug or gang related, Carlson said the motive hasn't been determined.

Oliver, 18 at the time of his death, lived in northeast Minneapolis. He was born in Chicago, according to police records.
Between the time he turned 16 and his death, he had been convicted of felony drug possession and arrested on suspicion of having a revolver.

When told of Oliver's death, Tyesha's stepfather paused, then spoke in dejected tones.

"I'm damn sorry to hear that," Leonard Winborn said. "There's another family that's grieving. There's another family that's going through the same things we did."

Oliver, a member of the Gangster Disciples, provided key testimony in the prosecution's case against the three people convicted in Tyesha's murder. Myon Burrell was trying to advance in his gang, the Rolling 30s Bloods, by shooting Oliver, according to testimony.

Oliver was standing in the yard of his aunt's house, next door to the home of Tyesha's family, in the 3400 block of Chicago Av. S., when eight shots were fired at him. A bullet went through his pants, but he wasn't hurt. Before the shooting, Oliver testified, no words were exchanged between the men, but they were "mean mugging" each other, which means they were giving each other mean looks.

Burrell, who was convicted of firing the fatal shot, was sentenced to life in prison for her death and 15 years more for shooting at Oliver. Isaiah D. Tyson received 27 1/2 years in Tyesha's killing and 17 1/2 years for firing at Oliver. A third man, Hans S. Williams, pleaded guilty to second-degree driveby murder for the benefit of the gang and was sentenced to 30 years in prison. All three men were members of the Rolling 30s Bloods.

As Winborn and Tyesha's mother, Linda Longino, sat Wednesday in the dining room of their new home, they said they had worried about Oliver, even after the trials.

"People wanted to get him help, get him out of here," Longino said. "But they wanted to take him somewhere where he didn't know anyone and no one knew him.

"Can you imagine what that would have been like for an 18-year-old?"

Awakened by shots

Cedric Riley, who lives nearby, said that the shots awakened him and his wife early Wednesday. She started praying, he said. The block has quieted recently, but work remains, he said.

"We still see a lot of drug dealing going on, kids out here getting high," he said. "It's quieter, but it's not uncommon to hear gunfire."

He said their six children are limited to going to houses where he and his wife know they will be safe. The family is also looking for another neighborhood in which to live.

"We're God-fearing people," Riley said. "Our children are involved in church. It's just by the grace of God that we stay safe.

"He's protected us so far."

"We have lost another one of our people," Longino said. "We've lost another young person to violence."

Through all of the pain the family has suffered, there have been changes, Winborn said. The community came together in ways that might not have been possible. Issues of gang violence were brought to the forefront.

Without the ability to bring Tyesha back, it is more important, her parents say, to look at the future.

"I hate that it happened. I hate that it happened," he said of Tyesha's death before his wife broke in: