Dispatch: 'I have no other choice, but to accept it'

In the more than three months since her teenage son was shot and killed, Tamesheria Murray's life has become a continuous struggle with her emotions.

"It’s like a big part of my heart is just … gone. I have no other choice but to accept it," she said. "You just learn to cope"

Edward Carr, a 17-year old black youth, was fatally wounded in a Sept. 30. shooting in the 14600 block of South Atlantic Avenue in Compton while walking home from his after-school maintenance job at Whaley Middle School.

Murray is now six months pregnant. Her son died without knowing he would have a new sibling.

“I was trying to figure out the right time to tell him,” his mother said.

Diagnosed with depression and anxiety in November, Murray is on disability from her job as a school bus driver for Durham School Services.

“I’m going to therapy, trying to pick up the pieces, trying to hold it together,” she said.

Edward, family members said, was a quiet, bashful kid, a typical teenager who enjoyed sports and hanging out with his cousins. Despite living in an area where crime and gang violence are entrenched, Betty Harris, his grandmother, said he stayed out of trouble and kept mostly to himself.

It wasn't until high school that he began dealing with harassment, family members said. A year ago, Edward transferred to Lifeline Charter School after attending Dominguez High School, both in Compton. Murray said she pulled him out of Dominguez High because of the racial tensions at the school. According to Murray, Edward was approached and hassled several times on campus by Latino students, and was sometimes chased home from school.

"I would get on him about walking home by himself. Edward wasn’t a snitch. He tried to handle it on his own. He wasn’t a fighting type of kid," she said. "They’d always come in packs and see him as a target."

According to Det. Howard Cooper of the Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau, Edward was walking home from his after-school job about 5 p.m. on Sept. 30 when he was approached by at least two unknown Latino males and shot. Cooper said Edward was not affiliated with any gangs.

Murray was at her job driving a school bus when she began receiving phone calls and texts from friends. As soon as she was able to read them, she went straight to St. Francis Medical Center, where Edward had been admitted. Doctors told her he had been shot once in the head and was brain dead. She made the difficult choice to take him off life support, but not before making arrangements to donate his organs.

"Even though my son’s death was senseless, thoughtless ... I still wanted a part of him to live. I felt like it was the right thing to do," Murray said.

With her mother, Betty Harris, and 3-year-old daughter Diamond at her side, Murray stayed in the hospital room with Edward every day until doctors took him off life support on Oct. 3.

A week later friends and family filled Light of the World church in Compton to attend Edward’s service. Each seat in the small, narrow church was filled, leaving latecomers to stand in the back and along the aisle. At the front of the church lay Edward’s open gray casket, adorned with white roses and baby's breath. Behind the coffin stood Elder Trent Breland, giving a sermon at the pulpit. A choir behind him sang gospel songs.

As the music played and attendees stood up to raise their hands in worship, Murray sat in the front row with her head down, tears trickling down her face. Harris put her arm around her daughter and rocked her back and forth.

Speakers at the 2 1/2-hour service spoke out against unnecessary brutality in their community. Calls for change, hope and deliverance resonated, even as there was no escaping the deep loss loved ones felt at Edward’s passing.
In the closing remarks, teachers, friends and family members spoke of memories and the joy Edward had brought to their lives.

But it was Edward’s younger cousin, Kyler Russell, who made the church fall silent with his heartfelt words. He got up from the pew, stood by the casket and as he grabbed the microphone, he began to cry.

"Boo was my cousin and I loved him. He never done nothing to no one."

Born in Long Beach and raised in Compton, Edward was called “Lil’ Boo” by his family. It was a nickname he picked up from his father, Edward Carr II. He was raised by his mother and grandmother.

“He’d play video games, text, talk on the phone with girls. His only problem was not picking up after himself,” his grandmother said with a laugh.

“That boy was messy, but he would take two to three showers a day,” Murray added. “You could smell his cologne before he came through the door. He’d wash his clothes every day and make the water bill go sky high."

He’d also proved himself a hard worker, his family said. A high school junior, Edward worked in maintenance and janitorial services at Whaley Middle School through the after-school work program Communities in Schools of South Bay Workforce Investment.

His mother said Edward enjoyed working because it meant making money. Before he was killed, she had planned to enroll him in Job Corps, a career-training program. She’d hoped her son would enter the Air Force after high school graduation.

Although dealing with the investigation is painful, Murray remains in contact with the detective handling her son’s case.

“It’s too hard to even look at Edward’s pictures,” she said. “I can’t even bring myself to pick up the death certificate.”

In the months since her son’s funeral, Murray said, she has been overwhelmed with the amount of support she’s received.

“A lot of people loved my son,” she said.

Still, she prefers to keep to herself. “I isolate myself at home,” she said. “That’s my comfort zone.”

Anyone with information about the death of Edward Carr is asked to call the Sheriff’s Homicide Bureau at (323) 890-5500.

-- Sarah Ardalani in Compton