Black Teen Gruesomely Murdered By White Racist
“….Another piece of trash off the street,” William Pulliam said after shooting 15-year-old Black teen, James Means.
A remorseless white man accused of shooting an unarmed Black teen to death in Charleston, West Virginia, after they bumped into each other Monday evening confessed and called his victim a “piece of trash,” police said, the Huffington Post reports.
William Pulliam, 62, was jailed on a charge of first-degree murder in the shooting of 15-year-old James Means; a Black teen whose aunt said was a loving teen who “could put a smile on anybody’s face.” Police said Pulliam “expressed no remorse.”
“The way I look at it, that’s another piece of trash off the street,” Pulliam told investigators, according to a criminal complaint filed by Charleston Detective C.C. Lioi
William Ronald Pulliam allegedly shot 15-year-old James Harvey Means twice in the abdomen with a .380 caliber revolver, according to Charleston Gazette-Mail.
Police said Pulliam showed no remorse after his arrest. He admitted shooting Means and said, “The way I look at it, that’s another piece of trash off the street,” according to a criminal complaint filed in Kanawha County Magistrate Court.
After the shooting, Pulliam went to dinner and then to a female friend’s home, according to the complaint, written by Charleston Police Detective C.C. Lioi. Police found the gun allegedly used to kill James Means at the friend’s home.
Charleston police asked federal authorities to determine if the killing meets the definition of a hate crime. Pulliam is white and Means was black.
W.Va. White Man Arrested in Fatal Shooting of Black Teen: ‘Another Piece of Trash Off the Street’ https://t.co/XrZzONNZ6P #BLM pic.twitter.com/qsuYT1SfQ8
— R Joseph (@rjoseph7777) November 24, 2016
The teenager was shot after a confrontation with Pulliam outside the Dollar General store at the corner of Washington and Nancy streets around 8:45 p.m. Monday.
Witnesses saw and heard Pulliam and Means exchange words after the two physically bumped into each other on the sidewalk near Dollar General, according to the complaint. After the argument, Pulliam entered the store, while Means joined friends on the porch at the nearby home of a companion’s grandmother.
After Pulliam emerged from the store and walked past the porch where Means and his friends had gathered, the two argued again, and after Means crossed Washington Street East to approach the man, Pulliam shot Means twice, according to the complaint. The teen died shortly after arrival at Charleston Area Medical Center General Hospital.
One of the witnesses to the shooting was 13-year-old James Cooper, who told the Gazette-Mail on Tuesday morning that he saw Pulliam kill his friend. He said he, the Black teen and another friend were sitting together just before the shooting. After the shooting, James Cooper said, he hopped a chain-link fence next to the house where the three were sitting.
On Tuesday morning, he showed another friend, Teonno White, 14, where the shooting happened, in front of a few brick houses on Washington Street East just before the intersection with Nancy Street.
White said he’s had run-ins with Pulliam in the past, when Pulliam would “pick on” his younger brother.
“One time I went over there to talk to him about it, I said, ‘You’ve got to quit picking on my little brother, that doesn’t look right,’” White said.
Lt. Steve Cooper, chief of detectives for the Charleston Police Department, said Pulliam was arrested near the scene of the shooting at about 10 p.m. Monday, slightly more than one hour after the event.
Pulliam was arraigned on the murder charge Tuesday morning via video from South Central Regional Jail before Kanawha County Magistrate Ward Harshbarger.
He appeared stoic as he acknowledged that he could face life in prison if convicted, and that he could have a lawyer appointed by the court represent him.
His mother, Nafia Adkins, said that she was confident her son would find justice in the legal system: “We know that justice is going to succeed in this matter, The Grio states. We are not going to put it in our hands. We are going to let the law put it in their hands.”
His family has also asked for peace and calm in the wake of the shooting.
“We just want everybody know that we don’t hold a grudge, so nobody else should hold a grudge,” Teresa Means, James’ aunt, said. “We all have to forgive.”
This white racist must surely pay fully for his irrational and iniquitous act. This is exactly how racist perceive Black people; “piece of trash.” No wonder they act the way they do. But I don’t blame them so much; the police themselves commit hate crimes and get away with it so why won’t it encourage other racist to do same?
