Clemons boys buried Monday
Donald Bradley, The Kansas City Star
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Wearing blue jeans and sneakers, the brothers looked dressed to go outside and play. Maybe to the park or to shoot hoops in the driveway.
But instead the two Clemons boys, ages 10 and 7, were snuggled side by side in a casket.
Despite it being a perfectly lovely casket — bright white, gold trim and red roses at their feet — this was a heartbreaking sight.
Gerard came up shorter, just like on the basketball court. He was only a first-grader, but he had played up so he could be on the same team as his big brother.
U.S. Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, who spoke at Monday’s funeral for the brothers and their aunt, Precious Triplett, said he didn’t want to hear any talk of the murders being part of God’s plan or that the victims were now in a better place.
“God had nothing to do with this!” railed Cleaver, who is a co-pastor of St. James United Methodist Church, where the service was held.
Cleaver called the killer an animal and asked that anyone who knew something to step forward and tell police.
“If a hyena was running around the neighborhood, everyone would call animal control,” Cleaver told the full church. And then he yelled: “This was not supposed to happen!”
The bodies of Amir and Gerard, their 21-year-old aunt and her boyfriend, Andre Jones Sr., 33, were found March 16 in a Raytown apartment. The boys had arrived the night before to spend the night.
Triplett’s toddler son was present but unharmed.
A funeral for Jones will be today.
No arrests have been made in the quadruple homicide. The investigation initially was handled by the Metro Squad but has been turned over to Raytown police, who on Monday made no statement on the case.
Detectives have not said when the killings occurred or how the victims died. The boys’ father found the bodies March 16 when he went to the apartment.
Triplett was remembered Monday as a young mother who worked hard to improve her life and that of her son. She wanted to become a nurse and worked at a restaurant.
Memories of the Clemons brothers were mostly about basketball. They played on a Missouri Valley Blazers fourth-grade team. The team will retire both their numbers.
Ten-year-old Amir was a team leader, a high scorer and the quieter of the two. On March 13, he scored 26 points against a team of older players.
“He was really hot, so I kept giving him the ball, and he kept making them,” a teammate said in a video played during the service, a tear running down his cheek. “He was really fun to play with, and I wish I had him back.”
Gerard — he went by the nickname “Little G” — was more of a talker, aggressive, always ready to shoot a three-pointer. He made his teammates laugh.
“He was great in practice until it was time to run laps,” said coach James Price. “Then Gerard would usually need to go get a drink or talk to his mother.”
And Little G always used to ask Price whether he could be in the starting lineup.
Price will do the best he can to grant that request when the Blazers take the court Friday night.
The team will start the game with only three players.
luckyforme1 (anonymous) says...
This is very sad to hear about this family. I remember little Amir when he was a young one. My family used to babysit for him when he lived here in town. I will always have that one memory of him running around the Peter Pan Park looking for those Easter Eggs! I pray that they find the person or persons responsible for this crime. And that they pay for their crime.
March 24, 2009 at 4:14 p.m. ( permalink | suggest removal )