DONALD "Bam" Clyburn shouldn't have died over a children's dance contest.
But Clyburn, 41, was caught in a kids' misunderstanding and became the city's 336th murder victim a week ago today.
The father and husband was shot once in the the head a few feet from his Kensington home.
Neighbors and family have organized two candlelight vigils to protest the rise of senseless killings in Philadelphia.
As of last night, 340 people have been slain in the city this year, about 10 more than during all of 2004.
Last Tuesday, a pair of youngsters were showing off their Wu-Tang moves in a street-dance contest on a narrow Kensington block.
Three blinks of an eye later, one mom paid a visit to another mom, Angela Clyburn, 31, Bam's wife.
Words were exchanged.
The visiting mom left, only to return with a group of 20. Cops showed up and the crowd dispersed. When police left, the mom returned with a gun and allegedly fired a shot toward the Clyburn home, killing Bam - one of the most beloved neighbors on the block.
"I felt like somebody cut a piece of my heart out," said Bam's sister Marcia Clyburn, 50. "That's my blood. This shouldn't have even gone this far."
"It's senseless," said Angela Clyburn, who married Bam 15 months ago. "It didn't need to happen. It could have been resolved some way, but not this way."
Said neighbor Cathi Rivera, "They were dancing, Jesus, they were dancing,"
Homicide detectives have issued an arrest warrant for Patricia Hayward, 39, on charges of murder and related offenses. As of last night, police had not been able to find her.
For now, Angela Clyburn is keeping her five children home.
The dancing started about 7 p.m. Tuesday, a relatively warm November night. It was so springlike that neighborhood kids, who streamed onto Braddock Street near Ontario for the dance-off, had left their homes without jackets.
The dance-offs, which are more about showing moves and less about competition, happen all the time on the block. Boys and girls show off their dancing prowess to hip-hop music played on a boom box. They compete two, three or more at a time.
The Wu-Tang dance involves "moving your arms up and down and back and forth," said Alex Ledino, Angela Clyburn's son and Bam Clyburn's stepson, who turns 13 today.
Alex said he accidentally hit his competitor's face with his elbow as they boogied during the 15-minute dance-off.
The youngster "yelled and cursed" at Alex, who said he had apologized. They continued to dance, and once they finished, the boy ran home, Alex said.
About 15 minutes later, the boy's mother, whom Clyburn later identified as Patricia Hayward, knocked on the Clyburns' screen door.
"I invited her in. She told me that her son told her [Alex] punched him," Angela Clyburn said. "I don't take my son's word over anything." She also told Hayward that she wasn't taking her word, either.
"I investigated what happened," said Angela Clyburn, who said she walked outside and asked questions. "The little girls, everybody said it was an accident."
But Hayward wasn't satisfied, according to Clyburn.
"There was a lot of yelling and cussing," Clyburn said.
Rivera remembers hearing Hayward screaming - and she lives 15 houses away. "She was acting like Angie's son cut her son's face in half or something," Rivera said. "You know, it was a dance move."
"A dance move that this man lost his life over... It was senseless, senseless, senseless!" After the words, Hayward allegedly took the conversation to another level, Clyburn recalled.
As she made a gesture of pulling a trigger with her hand, Hayward allegedly said, "My son has bigger brothers that play with those things," Clyburn said.
Hayward reportedly came back with "a whole bunch of people to my house," Clyburn said. She said most of them were kids.
"She came to the door. I came to the door. That's when she took a knife from the front of her waist, and she tried to stab [it] through my screen door," Clyburn claimed.
Clyburn said she called 911 from her cell and landline phones. Hayward continued to taunt her to come out to fight.
Suddenly, Clyburn said Hayward pulled a gun from the small of her back and broke the front window.
About nine cop cars arrived and quickly, the crowd dispersed. When police left, "they came back again," Clyburn said. "Soon as the cops turned the corner, they came back shooting."
Angela Clyburn claims she saw Hayward running and holding a gun.
"All I did see was my husband drop," she said. "I see the lady pull the trigger and see my husband drop."
Services for Donald "Bam" Clyburn are at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the Baker Funeral Home, Ltd., on Broad Street near Norris. The viewing is from 9 to 11 a.m. Burial is at Greenmount Cemetery, on Front Street near Hunting Park Avenue.
_________________ Something tells me that the first mousetrap wasn't designed to catch mice at all, but to protect little cheese "gems" from burglars.
DONALD "Bam" Clyburn shouldn't have died over a children's dance contest.
But Clyburn, 41, was caught in a kids' misunderstanding and became the city's 336th murder victim a week ago today.
The father and husband was shot once in the the head a few feet from his Kensington home.
Neighbors and family have organized two candlelight vigils to protest the rise of senseless killings in Philadelphia.
As of last night, 340 people have been slain in the city this year, about 10 more than during all of 2004.
Last Tuesday, a pair of youngsters were showing off their Wu-Tang moves in a street-dance contest on a narrow Kensington block.
Three blinks of an eye later, one mom paid a visit to another mom, Angela Clyburn, 31, Bam's wife.
Words were exchanged.
The visiting mom left, only to return with a group of 20. Cops showed up and the crowd dispersed. When police left, the mom returned with a gun and allegedly fired a shot toward the Clyburn home, killing Bam - one of the most beloved neighbors on the block.
"I felt like somebody cut a piece of my heart out," said Bam's sister Marcia Clyburn, 50. "That's my blood. This shouldn't have even gone this far."
"It's senseless," said Angela Clyburn, who married Bam 15 months ago. "It didn't need to happen. It could have been resolved some way, but not this way."
Said neighbor Cathi Rivera, "They were dancing, Jesus, they were dancing,"
Homicide detectives have issued an arrest warrant for Patricia Hayward, 39, on charges of murder and related offenses. As of last night, police had not been able to find her.
For now, Angela Clyburn is keeping her five children home.
The dancing started about 7 p.m. Tuesday, a relatively warm November night. It was so springlike that neighborhood kids, who streamed onto Braddock Street near Ontario for the dance-off, had left their homes without jackets.
The dance-offs, which are more about showing moves and less about competition, happen all the time on the block. Boys and girls show off their dancing prowess to hip-hop music played on a boom box. They compete two, three or more at a time.
The Wu-Tang dance involves "moving your arms up and down and back and forth," said Alex Ledino, Angela Clyburn's son and Bam Clyburn's stepson, who turns 13 today.
Alex said he accidentally hit his competitor's face with his elbow as they boogied during the 15-minute dance-off.
The youngster "yelled and cursed" at Alex, who said he had apologized. They continued to dance, and once they finished, the boy ran home, Alex said.
About 15 minutes later, the boy's mother, whom Clyburn later identified as Patricia Hayward, knocked on the Clyburns' screen door.
"I invited her in. She told me that her son told her [Alex] punched him," Angela Clyburn said. "I don't take my son's word over anything." She also told Hayward that she wasn't taking her word, either.
"I investigated what happened," said Angela Clyburn, who said she walked outside and asked questions. "The little girls, everybody said it was an accident."
But Hayward wasn't satisfied, according to Clyburn.
"There was a lot of yelling and cussing," Clyburn said.
Rivera remembers hearing Hayward screaming - and she lives 15 houses away. "She was acting like Angie's son cut her son's face in half or something," Rivera said. "You know, it was a dance move."
"A dance move that this man lost his life over... It was senseless, senseless, senseless!" After the words, Hayward allegedly took the conversation to another level, Clyburn recalled.
As she made a gesture of pulling a trigger with her hand, Hayward allegedly said, "My son has bigger brothers that play with those things," Clyburn said.
Hayward reportedly came back with "a whole bunch of people to my house," Clyburn said. She said most of them were kids.
"She came to the door. I came to the door. That's when she took a knife from the front of her waist, and she tried to stab [it] through my screen door," Clyburn claimed.
Clyburn said she called 911 from her cell and landline phones. Hayward continued to taunt her to come out to fight.
Suddenly, Clyburn said Hayward pulled a gun from the small of her back and broke the front window.
About nine cop cars arrived and quickly, the crowd dispersed. When police left, "they came back again," Clyburn said. "Soon as the cops turned the corner, they came back shooting."
Angela Clyburn claims she saw Hayward running and holding a gun.
"All I did see was my husband drop," she said. "I see the lady pull the trigger and see my husband drop."
Services for Donald "Bam" Clyburn are at 11 a.m. tomorrow at the Baker Funeral Home, Ltd., on Broad Street near Norris. The viewing is from 9 to 11 a.m. Burial is at Greenmount Cemetery, on Front Street near Hunting Park Avenue.
I thought of that South Park episode as I read this
_________________ seen it all, not at all can't defend fucked up man take me a for a ride before we leave...
Rise. Life is in motion...
don't it make you smile? don't it make you smile? when the sun don't shine? (shine at all) don't it make you smile?
Joined: Sat Oct 16, 2004 10:46 pm Posts: 9617 Location: Medford, Oregon Gender: Male
jimmac24 wrote:
I forgot to post how funny this is, and how I wish I was wittness to one of these "dance-offs".
Also, not a suprise here, this happened in one of the worst areas of the city.
Heh, yeah, senseless killings are pretty hilarious. I bet the guy's kids will think it's really funny as they grow up without a father. I'm in stitches.
_________________ Deep below the dunes I roved Past the rows, past the rows Beside the acacias freshly in bloom I sent men to their doom
Joined: Wed Oct 20, 2004 3:26 am Posts: 7994 Location: Philadelphia
Serjical Strike wrote:
jimmac24 wrote:
I forgot to post how funny this is, and how I wish I was wittness to one of these "dance-offs".
Also, not a suprise here, this happened in one of the worst areas of the city.
Heh, yeah, senseless killings are pretty hilarious. I bet the guy's kids will think it's really funny as they grow up without a father. I'm in stitches.
when did I say the killing was funny? let me rephrase, the quotes about the dance-off are funny. k? all better now? good
_________________ Something tells me that the first mousetrap wasn't designed to catch mice at all, but to protect little cheese "gems" from burglars.
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