Barton Glasser © News People attending a candlelight vigil honoring Paul Childs hold up flames to show their support and unity at Skyland Park Thursday night. The peaceful march honored the mentally disabled teenager and called for justice concerning his death.

Hundreds grieve, offer support to Paul Childs' family

By Lynn Bartels, Rocky Mountain News
July 11, 2003

A bitter but emboldened community marched as one Thursday night to demand justice for a 15-year-old boy slain by Denver police.

Several marchers balled up tissues and cried for Paul Childs, a developmentally disabled teen who was a fixture in his northeast Denver neighborhood and who considered police officers his friends.

"A lot of people knew this kid," said Melanie Mason, 46, of Deer Trail. "Oh, this is sad, sad, sad."

The vigil that drew about 600 people - including the father of a slain Columbine student - began outside Childs' home near Holly Street and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard, where he was shot and killed Saturday.

It continued a few blocks to Skyland Park, where a candlelight vigil was held.

"No one should be feeling this kind of grief. No one," said vigil organizer Alvertis Simmons, a veteran of Denver's Million Man March movement.

"We are asking for an independent investigation" into the shooting, Simmons said to cheers and "amens."

Although city officials earlier were concerned about retaliation against police - in part because of an anonymous flier that talked of shooting police officers - no problems materialized.

Organizers stressed their intent was to demand justice and to support the Childs family.

"The object of tonight, let's be clear, is not to bash the police or to tear this city up," Simmons said. "The bottom line is, tonight we stand as one. Please get your doggone agenda out of the way."

The crowd was predominately black, in part because Childs was the second disabled young black man killed in an 18-month span by the same police officer, James Turney. Also slain was 18-year-old Gregory L. Smith, who was hearing-impaired. Both young men were armed with knives. Critics said in both cases police were too quick to open fire.

"Had that been a wild bear or a mountain lion, they would have tranquilized him," said the Rev. Patrick Demmer.

"We have to have justice. Something is wrong with our system."

Betty Goebel, 50, of Arvada, said she wished more whites had attended the vigil.

"White people need to show our support and show that we care," said Goebel, who is white. "I'm here because I'm angry the Denver police do this on and on, and that has got to stop."

Among those who spoke was Brian Rohrbough, whose son, Daniel, was killed during the Columbine High School shootings in 1999. Rohrbough, who has been a persistent critic of the Jefferson County sheriff's investigation, vowed to support Denver residents' demand for a thorough probe of Paul Childs' slaying.

"I will spend four years or 40 years with you," Rohrbough said. "I don't know what happened in that house, but we have a right to know what happened."

Denver Mayor Wellington Webb, who leaves office on July 21 after 12 years, promised marchers an impartial investigation. He said he wants to see it done before his term expires.

"In two weeks, I will fade away, but if you need me, as Diana Ross says, 'You call me and I'll be there.' "

Community activist LeRoy Lemos, who has led protests over other fatal Denver police shootings, called on incoming mayor John Hickenlooper to do something about excess force.

"When is this going to stop?" he asked. "How many young men, how many boys, how many people will have to die at the hands of the police?

"Mayor Hickenlooper, this is your test," Lemos said.

Childs' friends struggled to hold back tears as they told of the likeable East High School student's bond with his chihuahuas, Bud and Chiquita. Now and then, he would board a Regional Transportation District bus with one, or both, of the dogs. The bus driver would tell him it was against policy.

"Paul used to say, 'Well, these are my seeing-eying dogs,' and the bus driver knew he had mental problems and he let him stay," said Mason, a family friend.

Chiquita was found injured Wednesday, possibly after being run over, and is hospitalized, she said.

Neighbor Aicemaj Carter, 15, knew Childs and often helped him get to his home.

"I felt so sad when I heard about it," he said, as he prepared to march with his sister and aunt.

Heustis Pledger, 58, rode his bicycle to the park with his two sons, ages 13 and 14, who also were friends of Childs.

"I feel we're an invisible community," Pledger said. "I feel that laws just need to apply evenly across the board."

Others in attendance included Anna Sampaio and her husband, Manolo Gonzalez-Esty, who said they were concerned about how police do their jobs in minority neighborhoods.

"It really reveals the misuse of police authority and the misuse of force," said Sampaio, 33, of Denver. "Now they're hiding behind policy and procedure."

Shirley Sedalnick, a 57-year-old registered nurse at St. Joseph Hospital, said she comes from a racially mixed family and has seen police mistreat some family members.

"I'm really sympathetic with the black community and I feel their loss," said Sedalnick, who is white.

Cindy Redmond, 45, who attended with her two nephews and a sister, said she was thankful that the neighborhood did not resort to violence, as in the recent riot in Michigan after officers shot a black motorcyclist.

"I'm glad the people of Denver, Colorado, came together," she said, "to make a statement without tearing up the community."

News staff writers Sakari Alighandi, John Ensslin, Tillie Fong and Hector Gutierrez contributed to this report.

Copyright 2003, Rocky Mountain News. All Rights Reserved.