Harvey’s aunt, who was caring for him after the deaths of his parents, will hold a justice rally on Saturday at Fairview and Pleasant avenues, where Harvey’s life was taken on Jan. 26 when his car was shot after he exited a barber shop with others shortly after 1 p.m.
MORE: Teen killed in Hamilton shooting ‘was targeted,’ chief says
Posters have been been passed out in the city by Sjuwana Springfield asking for the entire community to attend, especially parents who have lost children or loved ones to “senseless gun violence.”
“Even though it is about Londale now for us, I can also understand the pain of a mother if … they have lost a child or their son or daughter has committed such an act,” Springfield said.
Springfield was out of town when she got the call that her nephew had been shot in the head, less than a year after his mother died. Hours later, she agonized over a decision at the hospital.
MORE: Middletown woman facing child abuse charge from nanny cam video to undergo counseling
“I watched him take his first breath, and I also had to make the decision for him to take his last breath, meaning I had to make the decision to remove him off (life support),” Springfield said.
She said it took a long time before she could actually return to the location where Harvey’s prized car was shot full of holes.
She is now on a mission to make sure her nephew’s homicide does not go unsolved and to try to stop gang activity and violence “that has taken so many young Hamilton men in the past few years.”
The 51-year-old cosmetologist who has been coiffing hair for 30-plus years said the mother of one of the two men recently convicted of the shooting death of 13-year-old Jaraius Gilbert in Hamilton last summer is one of her customers.
MORE: Middletown park concession stand broken into, vandalized
She wants to make sure Harvey’s slaying is not forgotten and that those responsible are held accountable for what they did.
“Maybe this will refresh people’s minds,” Springfield said. “All I am asking is if people do know, talk.”
Hamilton police say that are continuing to investigate Harvey’s slaying and progress has been made.
“We are are confident we know who is responsible and they are not currently on the street,” Hamilton Police Chief Craig Bucheit said Monday. “Hopefully we will be able to bring charges soon.”
The rally begins at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
After shots were fired that hit Harvey in a car parked near the intersection, a shot was fired into the building at 2501 Pleasant, according to police. A man was in the building but was not injured by the bullet, according to the report.
Residents on Fairview Avenue behind the crime scene that is flanked by a church and barber shop described the shooting as a drive-by with the suspects circling the block before firing shots. The suspects stopped to pick up shell casings after the shooting, witnesses said.
Eight 911 calls were placed by people who saw or heard gunshots.
“We need an ambulance right now, somebody got killed … my dude’s bleeding out,” a male caller told the Butler County Sheriff’s Office dispatcher. “We was at the barber shop, a car pulled up and shot the whole car up.”
Anyone with information about the homicide is asked to call the Hamilton Police Department’s Investigations Section at 513-868-5811, extension 2002.
About the Author
