Early in the morning of March 8, 2011, a beloved store owner was found shot to death in the entrance of his convenience store. The community was blown away by his murder. Sammy was a rock in the community, he was a giver of tough love. Everyone described him as man with no enemies. He was the first to offer support in hard times, and a wake up call to those who needed. Community children would rush to him with their report cards before they showed their parents, just to show Sammy that they were staying in school and getting good grades. His death has left the community nervous for their future, they viewed Sammy as the one person keeping a rough neighborhood in check. I am trying to keep an eye on the community as this story progresses, to see what, if any, resonating effect Sammy's legacy will bring. Spent almost the entire day at the store talking with people, listening to their stories, trying to make connections. The lead for this article, the first shot of the man positioning the heart wreath, turned out to be a bit controversial. After it ran, we found out this man was a well known drug dealer in the area and a convicted felon. To me, that says so much about Sammy. Sammy was very anti drug/gang activity, and yet here was this man coming out to pay his respects, reminiscing about knowing Sammy since he was a child, fondly remembering how he helped his family out when times got tough (and all on the record and full name given nonetheless!) shows how Sammy was able to walk such a fine line. He was there to support and didn't judge when things went wrong. If I had known that man's past, I still would have pushed for it to be lead.
