Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: FRIDAY, March 31, 1995 TAG: 9503310076
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: B-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: DIANE STRUZZI STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: LENGTH: Medium
Last week, he traveled to New York City to pick up his cousin and his cousin's girlfriend.
``He was worried that something was going to happen, and he wanted his family around,'' said Christy - the girlfriend of Wilkerson's cousin - who would not give her last name.
He recently asked his mother if she had life insurance on him.
Wednesday, about 11:15 a.m., a friend paged him, and he left his girlfriend's house.
``He never told me nothing about anything,'' said Wilkerson's girlfriend, Charmaine Ware. That morning, she said, Wilkerson appeared to stare into space.
``I asked him, but he just said, `I'm thinking.'''
About 12:30 p.m., a passer-by found Wilkerson's body slumped in a car parked at 15th Street and Centre Avenue Northwest. Blood spatters were found 10 feet from the car and on the driver's outside door handle, leading police to believe he was shot outside the car.
About a half-hour before Wilkerson was found, the heavy backbeat of rap music was heard coming from his car. And several individuals in the area reported hearing two gunshots and seeing a car leave the area, police said.
Thursday, police did not comment on the slaying. According to the medical examiner's office, Wilkerson died from several gunshot wounds to the abdomen.
``I don't know; I think that someone just set him up,'' Ware said. ``Someone was jealous of him. He didn't bother nobody. Most guys his age stood on the corner and tried to be a G'' - slang for gangster. ``He didn't hang with nobody.''
His mother, Linda Karen Wilkerson, said she recently returned to Roanoke from living in Tulsa, Okla. She said her son never was involved in anything bad that she knew about.
``He just had his birthday on March 5th,'' she said. ``We partied, we laughed and joked. We had a good time.''
But she said she rarely spoke with him and that he kept to himself.
Wednesday morning, Wilkerson left his home shortly before breakfast to go to his girlfriend's home. He never returned. She said she didn't know her son was dead until an unknown man pulled up in a van and told her.
Thursday, neighbors along Massachusetts Avenue Northwest wondered who would shoot the teen-ager they remembered calling ``Little Tony,'' who loved to play his rap music loud - which got him into trouble once with the law - and often gave them a helping hand.
``It's all a mystery to me,'' said Sarah Saunders, who lives next door. ``I was getting my trash out on Monday, and he was there and asked if I wanted help.''
``He was real nice,'' said neighbor J.L. Hardy, whose daughter grew up with Wilkerson. ``He wasn't a bad person that I know of ... I couldn't tell you about his personal life. But this shocked everybody. It brought everybody to tears.''
Keywords:
ROMUR
by CNB