15 year old boy stomps a 21 year old to death...

[Negro]

<p>

Largo Mall Slaying Adds to Residents’ Fears
50 Cent Movie Also Troubles Some</p>

<p>By Avis Thomas-Lester and Hamil R. Harris
Washington Post Staff Writers
Thursday, November 17, 2005; Page B01</p>

<p>When the Boulevard at Capital Centre opened two years ago, residents in central Prince George’s County hoped the mall would deliver what they had long demanded: upscale retail.</p>

<p>Still, some couldn’t quite shake the memory of nearby Landover Mall, the once-prosperous shopping destination that steadily lost business as crime overtook its corridors.</p>

<p>Some residents petitioned the mall’s management to stop showing the movie “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.” (By Bill O’leary – The Washington Post) </p>

<p>So when police charged a 15-year-old youth this week in a fatal beating at the Largo mall, community leaders and residents said they felt betrayed.</p>

<p>“I don’t like to publicly bash the Boulevard because we are still trying to raise the bar on the type of retail we have, but the developer let the community and the county down,” said Arthur Turner, president of the Coalition of Central Prince George’s Community Organizations.</p>

<p>Even before the mall opened, residents exacted pledges from the original developer that they hoped would ensure a family-friendly atmosphere: Don’t bring in stores that draw loiterers. Don’t bring in too many athletic shoe stores, T-shirt shops and cell phone businesses that attract a young crowd without much money to spend. Don’t host movies that attract an undesirable element.</p>

<p>Residents were delighted by some of the new shops and restaurants – including Borders, Circuit City, Ann Taylor Loft and a Magic Johnson movie theater complex.</p>

<p>Some expressed disappointment in stores that arrived later.</p>

<p>A week after Matthew Pickett, 21, was beaten outside Borders, the movie theater was playing “Get Rich or Die Tryin’.” Pickett, a military recruit from Upper Marlboro, died of head injuries. His death has become a rallying point for some residents concerned about crime at the shopping center.</p>

<p>Police charged a Landover youth Tuesday with manslaughter in the case. He was held on $10,000 bond after a hearing yesterday. He is scheduled to return to court Dec. 12.</p>

<p>Police initially said Pickett had been attacked by 10 young men and hit with a pipe or other object as he walked from Borders to the movie theater.</p>

<p>Sources said yesterday that authorities are considering an alternative scenario: that Pickett suffered injuries to the back of his head as a result of falling after he was allegedly struck by the 15-year-old.</p>

<p>Authorities said they are awaiting the results of an autopsy.</p>

<p>Pickett’s relatives said yesterday that they don’t think he would have been involved in a fight with the teenager. They described Pickett, a teacher’s aide for special education students at Rosaryville Elementary School in Upper Marlboro, as a gentle young man who enjoyed reading and writing poetry.</p>

<p>His uncle, Mark Pickett, said his nephew cashed two checks hours before he headed to the Boulevard and had planned to buy a coat before watching a movie. When he was found, the money was missing and he did not have a coat, Pickett said.</p>

<p>Relatives of the suspect bristled yesterday at the suggestion that he is a troublemaker. The relatives are not being named to protect the identity of the suspect, who was charged as a juvenile.</p>

<p>An aunt, one of an entourage of 12 relatives who attended his hearing yesterday, called the incident a gang fight involving several young men.</p>

<p>“Everybody involved in this situation should step up to the plate,” the boy’s mother said. "They are making my son out to be a bad person. He comes from a real churchgoing family.</p>

<p>“Why do they have just one child [in custody] when a number of people were involved in this?”</p>

<p>At the Boulevard yesterday, signs posted throughout the mall offered a $25,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of those responsible for Pickett’s death.</p>

<p>Residents continued to press for changes at the mall. A group from Mitchellville and other neighborhoods sent petitions to the mall’s management last week seeking to stop the showing of the movie “Get Rich or Die Tryin’,” which stars rapper Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent. The movie is partly based on the life of Jackson, whose mother was killed in a drug deal.</p>

<p>“Take a stand, in light of the recent brutal attack and senseless murder of Matthew Pickett,” Roblyn Hymes of Mitchellville and others wrote in a letter to the theater’s management.</p>

<p>“The showing of this movie . . . perpetuates the same violent actions that happened to Matthew,” the letter said.</p>

<p>A spokeswoman for Inland Management, which runs the mall, did not return calls yesterday. The theater’s manager declined to comment and referred calls to a regional manager, who could not be reached late yesterday.</p>

<p>A giant billboard depicting 50 Cent holding a microphone in one hand and a gun in the other was removed from the theater after residents complained that it might draw a violent crowd.

</p>

<p>This is racist garbage to the tenth degree.</p>

[zogoto]

<p>It doesn’t say anything about any races…unless you’re talking about the 50 cent movie bringing a violent crowd which may be true.</p>

[Negro]

<p>Think about it.</p>

[zogoto]

<p>Maybe I’m dumb can you elucidate?</p>

[Jusgimmethegun]

<p>I see what you’re saying (like when it mentions what type of stores they won’t bring in… tshirts, etc) but you’re blowing it out of proportion</p>

[theoneo]

<p>The OP is notorious for his stupid threads and overall ignorance.</p>

[warblersrule]

<p>I find it sad that this happened outside Borders. It’s my favorite store. :(</p>

[l41n]

<p>Racism does not directly concern this matter. Its more of a social class issue… .</p>

<p>i live somewhat close to Prince Georges and I hear a lot of bad things coming from there in the news… especially with Bowie High.</p>

[supersonicxx]

<p>it’s sad that something like that happened at all. but i don’t see racism, i just see a very uptight community trying to get rid of any source of violent disturbance.</p>

[Negro]

<p>It’s sad that something like this happened and everybody’s blaming this movie and hip hop overall. The movie didn’t cause this any more than the Da Vinci Code movie caused it.</p>

[Jusgimmethegun]

<p>theyre not blaming the movie, theyre just saying that a violent movie certainly doesn’t help people not be violent.</p>

[l41n]

<p>…mona lisa wasnt holding a gun while she smiles. </p>

<p>I havent seen the movie but it does seem like something that would provoke teens to get all hyped up and stuff…yeah.
what is with hip hop and violence anyways?</p>

[princessbell]

<p>lol, the boulevard is 2 minutes away from my house. oh well, it’s not gonna stop me from hanging out there : )</p>

[Negro]

<p>Because there is absolutely no correlation between this movie coming out and the killing. How do you know the Harry Potter movie didn’t cause it? That gets kids hyped up more than anything. The crime should’ve been covered without any mention of a movie at all.</p>

[pgedufailedme]

<p>The mall’s close to my house too. And the woman who made that comment is my friend’s mom. I never even knew about the protest against the movie.</p>

[ksanders]

<p>I hardly believe that the movie had any influence on that scoundrel. This really irritates me, kids who are on the road to destruction. They have no direction whatsoever, so things like this happen. It’s very unforunate that they would ( i assume, from the way he was described in the article) kill a man who was just trying to have a good time at the mall/theater… senseless…</p>

[system]

<p>How this has anything to do with racism is beyond me.</p>

<p>Then again, I’m not the white boy with the “negro” screenname designed to attract attention. Don’t push your whole stupid arguement it’s cool to call, etc. It’s a ■■■■■■■■ ploy to attract attention. </p>

<p>50 Cent did have a gun and large depiction of violence. If perhaps acting 'gangsters" weren’t so in these days, it may have avoided some of this unneeded violence.</p>

[redstapler]

<p>Hmmm. Maybe rallying for some security guards or youth outreach programs would help more than blaming it a movie. But what do I know…</p>

[postmaster]

<p>That’s actually really sad. Kinda reminds me of the Oprah yesterday where the little kid beat up a kid like 100 pounds heavier than him with a baseball bat. The big kid was teasing him and the little kid ended up killing him. Now, both families don’t get to see their sons for a really long time The world is a sad place sometimes:(</p>

[redstapler]

<p>OP</p>

<p>I wouldn’t say its racism, but rather just the blaming of a subculture akin to blaming Marilyn Manson after Columbine. This is a tragedy, but we musn’t go crazy and attack a movie, but to instead try to quell the factors that breed violent crime.</p>