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Published in the Washington Post - June 20, 2010
The montage of photos that flickered across three jumbo screens before the service got underway in the vast church sanctuary captured the life of Wesley Brown with a silent eloquence that rivaled anything two dozen speakers would say about him in the three hours that followed.
From his quizzical look in a childhood studio portrait to happy family gatherings with a blinking Christmas tree in the background; from photos of him as a kid among kids to those of a young man surrounded by boys on the verge of manhood; and finally to others showing a tall, elegant man in the crisp brown uniform of a Maryland State Police trooper.
And from one photo to the next, childhood to manhood, there always is his magnetic smile.
On Saturday, the people who surrounded him in those cheerful photos filed solemnly into Jericho City of Praise church in Landover to mourn the man with that smile who had been gunned down at age 24 , allegedly by an angry patron outside an Applebee's restaurant eight days earlier.
His family and the woman he planned to marry, 28 young men for whom he became a father figure, the troopers he trained with and those he worked with, hundreds of other uniformed officers from throughout the region and as far away as Vermont, and row after row of politicians.
Some who spoke knew him, the rest knew of him, and their commentary fleshed out with words what the photos already had revealed.
A close family and religious values helped guide Brown during an upbringing in Seat Pleasant, one of Washington's most violent suburbs, but could not shield him completely. Ralph Calhoun, deacon of Abyssinia Baptist Church, said Brown was stabbed on one occasion and shot in the leg on another. At 20, he was accepted into the State Police, and that same year he started a program to save teenagers from the pitfalls of a community too familiar with the needle and the gun.
"I became a squared-away young man," Shaquille Jones said of the program Brown founded, Young Men Enlightening Younger Men. "And I'll never forget that smile."
His work to "make a difference" in the lives of at-risk young men and the smile with which he pursued life were reoccurring themes.
"He taught us all that a bright smile was disarming," said Lt. Bonnie Morris, who commanded the Forestville barracks of the State Police when Brown was transferred there from LaPlata. "Wesley's dream was to make a difference in the lives of children."
Eugene Grant, the mayor of Seat Pleasant, spoke of Brown's love for his family and the neighborhood where he was raised.
"It's important that you understand one word about Wesley, and that's love," Grant said, gesturing the pews where young men from Brown's program were seated. "He gave love to these young men seated to my right."
Gov. Martin O'Malley (D) encouraged the assembled to sustain what Brown had begun.
"Just as Wesley never forgot about these young men, we must honor his legacy by not forgetting them either," O'Malley said.
In his eulogy, the Rev. Robert W. Trice Jr. said, simply: "He showed us how to serve his brother man, and no one had to beg him to do it."
Brown's casket, draped in a Maryland state flag, was escorted into the church by an honor guard of white-gloved state troopers. The banks of flowers spread out to either side of it included one in the design of a State Police cruiser, and a state trooper's hat was nested in an array of flowers placed atop the casket.
After the benediction, Brown's family and friends exited to find hundreds of law enforcement officers standing at attention to salute their fallen colleague as the hearse took up its duty. The procession of police cruisers and motorcycles, limousines and other vehicles stretched for miles as it headed onto the Capital Beltway bound for Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Suitland.
Brown was shot to death June 11, shortly after midnight, while working as an off-duty security guard at the Applebee's restaurant in Forestville. He was in plain clothes but wearing his badge on a lanyard around his neck. His State Police cruiser was parked nearby.
Not long after he escorted an unruly patron from the establishment he was standing outside talking on his cellphone when someone fired six shots, one striking him in the ankle and another that made its way around his bullet-proof vest to strike him in the heart.
Police later arrested two men who were charged with the shooting.
Cyril Cornelius Williams, 27, was identified by police as the man who had been ejected from the restaurant. Police said he returned to Applebee's with a friend, Anthony A. Milton II, 28, who handed him the handgun. Milton admitted to participating in the shooting, police said.
The men -- both residents of the same Seat Pleasant community where Brown was raised -- have been jailed on first-degree murder charges.
Published in the Baltimore Sun - June 19, 2010
LANDOVER — A 24-year-old Maryland state trooper killed while working as a restaurant security guard was remembered in funeral services Saturday as an energetic trooper and mentor who pushed young men in his community to be their best.
Hundreds of law enforcement officers and friends filled the 10,000-seat Jericho City of Praise church for the funeral services of Wesley Brown. Many of Brown's fellow troopers, dressed in brown and tan uniforms, filed by to salute his white casket draped with a Maryland flag. Placed on top was a bouquet of flowers topped with a trooper's tan hat.
"He always seemed to get hurt helping others," said Ralph Calhoun, who knew Wesley from church.
Police say Brown was working as a security guard at Applebee's in Forestville on June 11 when he removed a man after a dispute about an unpaid bill. Later, while he was standing outside talking on the phone, he was shot several times. Two men, one of whom was the man Brown removed from the restaurant, have been charged in his death.
Lt. Bonnie Morris, Brown's former commander, said Brown did his job with great enthusiasm, always apologized sincerely when he made a mistake and had a tendency to greet people with hugs. She said he was "always eager to learn" and called him "a teacher to us all."
His pastor, the Rev. Robert Tice Jr., said he once suggested that Brown look the other way if he saw the pastor's car speeding. But Brown wasn't about to treat him differently.
"He said, 'Reverend, don't come through my area,' " Tice said.
More than anything else, however, speakers remembered Brown as a mentor to young men. Three years ago he founded "Young Men Enlightening Younger Men," a mentoring group. His brother, Sylvester Brown Jr., said he was proud of the group's work.
"We did so much with nothing," Sylvester Brown said after a video tribute including pictures of the group dining and having fun together.
One member of the group remembered that Brown didn't let them slide. He would ask, "Why didn't you iron your shirt?" or "Why don't you brush your teeth?"
His fiancee, Ebony Norris, who he proposed to in May, called him her "knight in shining armor."
Lawmakers also came to offer their condolences, including Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley, who thanked Brown's family.
Published in the Washington Post - June 18, 2010
More than 100 police officers, family members and well wishers streamed down the aisles of Abyssinia Baptist Church in Capitol Heights Friday to say one final goodbye to the Maryland state trooper who was gunned down outside a Forestville Applebee's last week.
Even veteran troopers fought back tears as they gazed upon the body of Trooper Wesley Brown, 24, whose casket was open and set against a row of flowers in front of the church altar. Outside, police officers and family members hugged one another and stood talking about a young man with so much potential whose life was taken callously.
"He was a great, great person," said Washington Hospital Center Officer Christopher Bell, who worked security jobs with Brown. "This is just a tragedy."
Lt. Mark Darby, Brown's supervisor, said the incident "really brings home the danger law enforcement faces." The mood inside the church, he said, was "somber."
Mary Pollard, Brown's cousin, said she could not bring herself to go inside the church until other relatives came. They were expected around 5 p.m. Relatives had figured out Brown was the youngest of 40 grandchildren, she said Thursday. Of the shooting, she said, "It kind of makes you wonder, you know, how people get stupid."
Brown was killed June 11 while working off duty as a security guard at an Applebees. He ejected a patron for uriniating inside the restaurant and a dispute over his bill, police have said,
The patron, Cyril Cornelius Williams, 27, of Seat Pleasant, has been charged with first-degree murder. A friend of Williams's, who sources have said gave Williams the gun, also has been charged. The friend, Anthony A. Milton II, 28, is charged with murder.
Maryland State Police spokeswoman Elena Morris said the inner loop of the Beltway will be closed Saturday from noon to 2:30 p.m. for Brown's funeral procession. The shutdown will begin at Arena Drive and extend south to Exit 11 (Pennsylvania Avenue).
Published on WJLA - June 18, 2010
CAPITOL HEIGHTS, Md. - Exactly one week after Maryland State Trooper Wesley Brown was shot and killed outside a Forestville-area restaurant, thousands of family and friends are expected to pay their respects Friday evening at a public viewing at the Abyssinia Baptist Church in Capitol Heights, Md.
"He fought a good fight for all of us. He will be missed. terribly," said Shantye Jones, neighbor.
The 24-year-old trooper lived in a Capitol Heights neighborhood where he is remembered as a well-respected leader, especially among the boys he mentored.
"He used his own money, to provide education, trips for the young boys. For a lot of them, Wesley was their father," stated Patrice Faison, Brown's sister.
"A lot of people know him, have been touched by what he has done. Even people who don't know him have been touched by his story," said Dr. Robert Trice, pastor at Abbysinia Baptist Church.
Trooper Wesley Brown attended services at Abbysinia Baptist Church. Trice says he knew Brown was involved in the community, but he had no idea just how involved.
Trice said, "But it just shows the heart of the individual and his care for humanity. Great guy, great guy."
It is fitting that Wesley Brown's name, scratched in wet concrete when Brown was a child, remains in the sidewalk in front of his home. It is fitting because the 24-year-old left a lasting mark in his community. His neighbor Renee Jackson says her son was among the many teens Brown mentored.
"Wesley just was a great boy. I remember him growing up with my children. He gave back the minute he got to be a man. It never stopped with him," said Renee Jackson.
At age 21, Brown founded a group called Young Men Enlightening younger men. His home was a sanctuary. The street side basketball court he maintained was a place boys gathered to play and absorb the young trooper's message.
Brown's neighbor Lakeysha Jackson told us his message was, "that there is no reason for fighting and guns and stuff and he died the way he didn't want nobody else to die."
At work in the spit-and-polish world of the Maryland State Police, Brown was well on his way to a solid career. His supervisors say he took his job very seriously but performed his duties with a smile and empathy for the citizens he encountered.
First Sgt. Rodney Morris said, "TFC Wesley Brown was a remarkable young man he was on his way to becoming a very fine trooper. His objective everyday was to do a very good job for the Maryland State Police."
Volunteers arrived at the church early, bracing for a huge turnout Friday afternoon. They say they're here to help Brown's family and friends heal, especially the young men he mentored.
Parishioner Larry Porter said, "I hope to help them along, as far as seeing right from wrong and help bring them up the right way."
Saturday, after Brown's funeral in Landover,state police from across the country are expected to participate in a motorcade and procession past the Forestville Barracks, where Brown served, to Lincoln Memorial Cemetery where he'll be buried.
Brown was murdered last Friday while moon-lighting as a security guard at an Applebee's.
Two men, 27-year-old Cyril Williams and 28-year-old Anthony Milton, face first-degree murder charges in connection to Brown's death.
"It's not right, to take away a life for nothing," stated parishioner Gregory Pratt.
But Pastor Trice says this is not a time for sadness.
"It's a time of reflection and memory and console and comfort for the family. And also the beginning of a celebration. We're gathering here today to celebrate his life," said Trice.
Brown's funeral will be held at Jericho City of Praise Church in Landover at 10 a.m. Saturday. The procession to the cemetery could start as early as 12:30 p.m.
Drivers are advised to avoid the Inner Loop of the Beltway from Arena Drive to Pennsylvania Avenue, Forestville Road and Suitland Parkway.
The family of Brown has announced a scholarship fund in his name that will provide funds for eductation for the youth involved in the mentoring organization he started.
TFC Brown's family has requested that donations in his memory be made to the: TFC W. Brown Memorial Collegiate Youth Scholarship Fund
Donations can be made at any Bank of America branch or online at http://wbrownscholarshipfund.org. There is also a Facebook page for the scholarship fund.
According to organizers, the fund will be used to continue TFC Brown's "legacy and vision for the empowerment of youth. One hundred percent of monies donated will benefit the community and members of his founding group, Young Men Enlightening Younger Men, by providing funds towards continuing education."
Published in the Washington Post - June 18, 2010
A public viewing for slain Maryland state trooper Wesley Brown is set for Friday in Capitol Heights.
The viewing, scheduled for 4 p.m. at Abyssinia Baptist Church, will be followed by a funeral 10 a.m. Saturday at Jericho City of Praise in Landover.
He will be buried at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Suitland.
Brown was shot to death in the pre-dawn hours of June 11 after he escorted a rowdy patron from an Applebee’s where he was moonlighting as a security guard, police said.
Authorities have accused two men, Cyril C. Williams, 28, and Anthony A. Milton II, 28, in the killing.
Published in the Washington Post - June 18, 2010
The family of Wesley Brown, the Maryland state trooper who was fatally shot outside a Prince George's County restaurant on June 11, has announced the establishment of a scholarship fund in his honor.
The scholarship fund will provide money for the continuing education of youths involved in the mentoring organization Brown founded.
Brown's family said donations can be made to the TFC W. Brown Memorial Collegiate Youth Scholarship Fund.
Donations can be made online or at any Bank of America branch.
Prince George's County police on Monday announced that two men have been arrested in conection with Brown's murder.
Brown was off-duty, working as a security guard at the Applebee's restaurant in Forestville, when he ejected an unruly patron, authorities said. About 30 minutes later, the man Brown ejected and fatally shot the 24-year-old trooper, police and prosecutors allege.
The man, Cyril Cornelius Williams, 27, has a long history of convictions for selling cocaine and marijuana, and was on parole at the time of the shooting. Williams is being held on a parole violation in Baltimore, and is awaiting a bond hearing in Prince George's on the murder charge, authorities said.
Published in the Washington Post - June 15, 2010
A parolee with a long history of drug convictions was charged Monday with fatally shooting a Maryland state trooper outside a Forestville Applebee's simply because the trooper had thrown him out of the restaurant a half-hour earlier, authorities and law enforcement sources said.
Cyril Cornelius Williams, 27, of Seat Pleasant was charged with first-degree murder in Friday's fatal shooting of Trooper Wesley Brown, 24. Williams was so enraged after Brown ejected him from the restaurant that he sought out a friend, returned and opened fire on an unsuspecting Brown as he stood outside talking on his cellphone, several law enforcement officials said.
The friend, Anthony A. Milton II, 28, also was charged with first-degree murder. The law enforcement sources said Milton handed Williams the semiautomatic gun used in the shooting.
Their only motive, police said, was the dispute at Applebee's.
"Nothing more, nothing less," said Kevin Davis, deputy Prince George's County police chief.
The brazenness of the shooting of a state trooper, youth mentor and active member of the Seat Pleasant community sparked a massive effort to find the killer. County homicide detectives, who led the investigation, teamed with the Maryland State Police, D.C. police, FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service, and even parole and probation officials. Surveillance footage was quickly released to the media, and hundreds of tips were followed.
Williams's arrest over the weekend and Milton's on Monday brought relief to the law enforcement community, which was stunned that someone would ambush a police officer over such a minor dispute. Brown wasn't in uniform, but he was wearing his badge around his neck and was steps from his marked cruiser when he was killed.
"This is a bittersweet moment for all of us," said Terrence B. Sheridan, the state police superintendent, "in that a young trooper was cut down way before his time."
The altercation
Brown was working off-duty as a security guard at the Applebee's on Donnell Drive when he escorted out a man in a blue shirt who had been acting belligerently, police said. Law enforcement sources said the man was urinating inside the restaurant and possibly had a dispute over a bill.
Police said the man in the blue shirt, whose picture was released to news outlets, was Williams. Police also identified Milton as a suspect, and he "admitted being on the scene and participating in the murder of Trooper Brown," according to police charging documents. The documents do not say who pulled the trigger. Law enforcement sources said it was Williams. Milton's main role, the sources said, was providing the gun.
Williams fired six times, sources said, and two of the bullets struck the trooper. One hit him in the ankle; the other made its way past his bulletproof vest and pierced his heart, the sources said. Brown never had a chance to draw his gun.
No one answered the doors at the homes of Williams and Milton on Monday. Police said they have recovered the semiautomatic handgun used in the killing, connecting it to the slaying through ballistics testing. They would not say how they found it. A law enforcement source said police served several search warrants in connection with the case and have seized large amounts of drugs and money.
Published on WUSA - June 13, 2010
CAPITOL HEIGHTS, Md. (WUSA) -- Prince George's County police say they are getting more calls Saturday, since they released the latest and best picture, they have of the person of interest in connection with Maryland State Trooper Wesley Brown's murder.
Trooper Brown, 24, was gunned down outside a Forestville Applebee's restaurant shortly after he escorted a man for not paying his bill.
While the manhunt for a killer continues, the people in Trooper Brown's community are determined to carry on the volunteer work he was doing with young people.
Saturday afternoon, members of the Maxx Ryder's Bike Club held a car and bike wash at Free State Cycles in Capitol Heights.
They came out to honor their friend, washing cars and bikes for a cause.
Tasheeka Hawkins says, "I grew up with Wesley. We went to school together. He's a big part of my family."
There were also those who volunteered because they care.
Officer Tomel Burke says, "I didn't know him and I wasn't there, but he's a fellow police officer. He's family."
Proceeds of the event will be going to Trooper Brown's foundation: 'Young Men Enlightening Younger Men.'
Those who came to get their car washed were doing much more than just running an errand.
Cheryl Banks says, "I think it's a tragedy. I came to support the community. I think it's important for our youth in our community to have things to do so that they grow into the men and woman they need to be. I work closely with police officers every day who put their lives on the line and I came out to lend my support."
Tasheeka Hawkins knows just how much the foundation meant to Trooper Brown: "We grew up in a rough neighborhood and he made a change for the better. We would have never thought something like this would happen. There were times he would stop by and get Koolaid. It feels bad he's not going to be stopping by to say, 'Hi,' and get Koolaid anymore."
Hawkins grew up and lives just around the corner from Trooper Brown's neighborhood. The makeshift memorial continues to grow and so does the anxiety of finding her friend's killer.
A Maryland State Trooper sits watching over the family home day and night.
Hawkins says, It's like losing your brother, that's how close we all was."
Published in the Business Gazette - - June 13, 2010
As search intensified for killer, friends gather to remember mentor
No more texts. No more phone calls. No more seeing his truck pull up outside his Dateleaf Avenue home.
Young men like Delonte Exum, 21, of Seat Pleasant, a member of Maryland State Trooper Wesley Brown's mentoring group, Young Men Enlightening Younger Men, stood outside Brown's Capitol Heights home Friday night recalling experiences that would be no more.
"The only word to describe Wesley was beautiful," Exum said.
Brown, 24, was shot early Friday morning while he was off duty and working a part-time security job at a Forestville restaurant. The trooper, not in uniform, was fatally wounded minutes after escorting a disorderly patron from the restaurant, according to Prince George's County Police.
A search for the gunman continued Saturday and police had identified "a person of interest," according to reports.
At a Friday night vigil, a crowd converged on a grass field outside Brown's home, forming a human chain to surround the immediate family, which huddled and buried faces wet with tears into each other's shoulders.
The trooper's death devastated Leonard Bellamy, 41, who lives on nearby Cedarleaf Avenue and watched Brown grow up. Bellamy called Brown a "homegrown" man who was never out of character.
"I'd rather look back on this like I came back from his wedding," Bellamy said. "I can't celebrate his death."
Seat Pleasant Mayor Eugene Grant said Brown, a Seat Pleasant native, was filled with compassion and that his home was a house of hope. He asked the crowd pray for Brown's family and his fiancee, Ebony Norris. He and Norris were recently engaged to be married in 2011. Norris did not speak during the vigil.
"Some of you want to retaliate but that is not what Wes would want you to do," Grant said. "That is not what he stood for. He was a man of peace."
Brown's mother, Patricia Bell, said she drew strength from the community and thanked everyone for their sympathy and for supporting Wesley's dream of helping others.
"I thank God for the years that he allowed me to have with him because he truly was a gift of God," Bell said.
YMEYM member Terrance Marshall, 18, of Seat Pleasant, said Brown had an "open door policy" and always sent encouraging phone calls and texts to check on the young men in his group.
The group, started by Brown in 2007, offers weekly trips and activities to keep neighborhood men occupied and off the streets.
Marshall credits Brown for encouraging him to seek higher education. He will start as a freshman at Washington Adventist University in Takoma Park this fall.
"If it wasn't for him pushing me saying you need to do something with your life I wouldn't be here right now," Marshall said.
Group members are expected to gather Sunday to discuss moving forward. Several members were on a trip to New York City that Brown had planned.
"You can't kill the group," Marshall said. "You can't do that. Even if Wesley is the founder."
Published in the Washington Post - June 13, 2010
Detectives believe the "person of interest" taken into custody Saturday night in connection with the slaying of a Maryland State Trooper outside an Applebee's restaurant in Forestville is likely the man who shot the trooper.
That's based largely on the account of a person who witnessed the incident from the parking lot, a law enforcement source said Sunday.
Investigators still have unanswered questions in the killing of Trooper Wesley Brown, 24, who was working security in an off duty capacity at the Applebee's when he was shot early Friday morning. But, for now, they consider the man they have in custody -- the man in a light blue shirt who Brown escorted out of the Applebee's about 30 minutes before the shooting -- to be the primary suspect, the source said.
Authorities have not publicly identified the man in custody.
"The guy that was ejected from the restaurant looks like he's probably the shooter," said one law enforcement source, speaking on the condition of anonymity because no one has been charged and the investigation is ongoing.
Officially, police said the man who was escorted from the restaurant by Brown after acting disorderly was taken into custody Saturday as a "person of interest," but he was not necessarily believed to be the shooter.
Maj. Andrew Ellis, a senior spokesman for the Prince George's County Police Department, said the shooting happened about 30 minutes after the man was escorted out, and it was possible the man could produce an alibi and clear himself of any wrongdoing. Other law enforcement sources also acknowledged that possibility and said detectives know only that the man in custody was the man escorted out.
Cpl. Clinton Copeland, another Prince George's police spokesman, said the man was being held Sunday on "an unrelated charge" that was "not related to anything dealing with this investigation." He said he did not know what that charge was or how long it might keep the man in police custody, but the investigation into Brown's killing was "moving along at a very good pace."
"They're being very careful and very cautious," Copeland said. "It's moving in a positive direction, and hopefully we will be able to close it soon."
Investigators have some evidence to indicate the man acting disorderly was also the shooter, sources have said. For one, he is the only one with a clear motive, having been escorted out of the restaurant by Brown, sources said. He was also apparently spotted by a witness in the parking lot, sources said. One law enforcement source said detectives and prosecutors are waiting to review footage from a security camera that pointed outside the Applebee's, and they are hoping to collect a few more pieces of evidence on Monday.
Law enforcement sources have said whoever shot Brown fired about a half dozen shots from a distance of 50 feet or more, and one of those rounds somehow made its way past his bullet proof vest and pierced his heart. Another round also struck Brown in the ankle, a law enforcement source said.
Brown, a 3 1/2 year veteran of the State Police who was active in the Seat Pleasant community and founded a mentoring group for youths, never had a chance to draw his weapon, police said. He was talking on his cell phone and apparently ambushed by the shooter, police said.
Published in the Washington Post - June 12, 2010
Maryland State Police say the funeral for a slain trooper will be held next week.
Trooper 1st Class Wesley W. Brown, 24, was shot and killed early Friday at an Applebee's restaurant in Prince George's County. State police said Saturday that Brown's family announced that there will be a public viewing at 4 p.m. June 18 at Abyssinia Baptist Church in Capitol Heights.
Funeral services will then be at 10 a.m. June 19 at Jericho City of Praise in Landover, followed by burial at Lincoln Memorial Cemetery in Suitland.
County police continued their search Saturday for a person of interest in the case.
Published on WJLA - June 11, 2010
FORESTVILLE, Md. - Police launched a massive manhunt Friday for the gunman who fatally shot an off-duty Maryland State Police trooper working security at a restaurant in Forestville.
Trooper First Class Wesley Brown, 24, was working security at the Applebee's on Donnell Drive overnight after finishing his shift.
As Brown stepped out the front door to make a phone call, a gunman lurking in the shadows near a bus stop on Donnell Drive opened fire. Law enforcement sources say the gunman fired seven times, hitting Brown with all seven rounds from a distance of about 70 feet. One of the bullets struck Brown's side, which was not protected by his body armor, the sources said; that bullet struck his heart.
"The trooper, it doesn't appear to us, even had a chance to draw his weapon or fire," said Maj. Andy Ellis, a Prince George's County police spokesman. "It appears he was ambushed."
Brown stumbled into the restaurant where he collapsed. He was taken to Prince George's Hospital Center where he was later pronounced dead.
The investigation quickly focused on a man Brown had thrown out of Applebee's a half-hour before the shooting. He was described as a dark-complected black man about 5'7", 135 pounds, wearing a light blue Hugo Boss shirt.
After the shooting, the same man was seen running from the scene toward an apartment building on Donnell Drive. All day, heavily armed officers combed the neighborhood but they did not find the man.
But investigators aren't certain the man who was ejected from the bar was the gunman, sources say. Police are urging the man to come forward.
"We've never had an unsolved police killing," Maj. Ellis said. "We're going to solve this case. It's better for him to turn himself in right now, contact an attorney and arrange to surrender, rather than have us knock on the door at 3 o'clock in the morning."
Maryland State Police Superintendent Terrance Sheridan says the gunman needs to know the consequence of his actions.
"What he has done is devastate his family, and all of those people he's protecting, day in, day out," Col. Sheridan said. "When this happens it goes against our society that we all stand for."
Family members were notified of Brown's death about 4 a.m. His sister, Patrice Faison, focused on Brown's work as a mentor to children in his community, "using his own money, to provide education, trips for the young boys," she said. "For a lot of them, Wesley was their father."
Trooper Brown was the 42nd Maryland State Police trooper to die in the line of duty.
Published on WJLA - June 11, 2010
CAPITOL HEIGHTS, Md. - Maryland State Police Trooper First Class Wesley Brown packed a lot into his short life.
The 24-year-old worked two jobs, using the overtime to fund the youth group he created: Young Men Enlightening Younger Men. The money, according to Brown's sister, Patrice Faison, went "to provide education and trips for the young boys."
"For a lot of them, Wesley was their father," Faison said.
Brown was gunned down early Friday at his second job, as a part-time security guard at an Applebee's in Forestville, leaving a hole in the community he served as a mentor and friend to 26 children.
Brown had no children of his own. He got engaged only last month. His fiancée raced to the hospital to see him. She was devastated, according to a friend.
"She was talking to him, 'I love you, Wesley, wake up,'" Arabia Phenious recalled the fiancée. "I love you! Wake up, Wesley. But he didn't say anything. He was already gone."
Brown was the youngest of nine sisters and brothers, but acted as a big brother and mentor to so many more.
"They don't come like Wesley anymore, so accomplished and so many dreams," said Tiarra Adams, Brown's best friend.
The children he mentored when off-duty were his pride and joy.
"He stayed on us to be positive, to do right in school, do good in life, to not be afraid to fail," said one of Brown's 26 mentees, Shaquille Jones.
Brown would shut down the block so the young could play basketball. A hoop marked with a Y for the name of his group sits along the street.
"I think he is a good man," said Jalijah Farmer, a young neighbor. "He is wonderful, and I don't think he should be dead right now because he is wonderful."
"This young man had the ability to change the lives of these young men," said Brown's friend, John Burke. "And it's up to us know to keep that program going."
Faison, Brown's sister, vowed Friday to continue that work.
"I hope through all of this the community will look at the kids and say that child needs me and we need each other," she said.
Brown's mentees say they'll continue to follow his lead: stay in school and reject the type of violence that took their mentor.
The group was set to go to New York on Friday. "The whole group was going, it was like a field trip," Jones said. "He put it all together." They still went.
"That's what he would want," Jones said. "We're going to keep pushing and we're going to be stronger than ever."
Published in the Business Gazette - June 11, 2010
Seat Pleasant native killed working off duty outside Forestville Applebee's
Just hours before his death, Maryland State Police trooper Wesley Brown was on the phone with Seat Pleasant City Council President LaTasha Gatling, determined to prevent the same type of violence that would ultimately end his life.
Gatling (At-large) and Brown, 24, founder of the boys' youth group Young Men Enlightening Younger Men, discussed his ideas of having a "Stop The Violence" youth summit in the city for an undetermined date in July. Brown had attended the council's meeting Monday to ask for the city's blessing, and the council gave him the green light.
"All of this was for the youth, to keep them out of the streets," Gatling said.
Brown was shot and killed early Friday morning outside the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill at 3447 Donnell Drive, where he was off-duty working part-time as a security officer. About a half-hour before the shooting, Brown escorted out a disorderly customer who got into a dispute over his bill, Prince George's County police said.
Brown founded Young Men Enlightening Younger Men in 2007 to mentor young men in the community and prevent them from getting mixed up with neighborhood crime and drug activity. He organized events such as basketball and boxing matches as well as field trips —including one scheduled Friday, a trip to New York City.
Around 8:30 a.m. Friday, Seat Pleasant Mayor Eugene Grant was sitting inside Brown's Carmody Hills home with eight YMEYM youth who planned to go on a trip to New York City with Brown. Grant said the youth were not ready to speak to the press at that time but ultimately decided to go on the trip Friday morning.
Grant said he also was with Brown's family at the time and said they were not ready to talk to reporters because they are still getting over the "initial shock" of his death. Grant said he saw Brown in his Seat Pleasant office two weeks ago, when Brown told him he was engaged to be married in 2011. Grant said he did not know his fiancée's name.
Brown's cousin Janet Brangman, 50, of Bermuda said the family is in "utter shock" over Brown's death. Brangman, a former Washington, D.C., resident, said anyone who knew Brown knew how wonderful he was and how he was always committed to children, starting with the younger members of his family.
Brangman affectionately called Wesley her "baby boy," being that she is the eldest cousin of about 40 and Brown is the youngest.
"Wesley was just a wonderful person and not because he was my cousin but because they don't make them like that anymore," Brangman said. "They don't make them like that anymore at all."
Gatling said Brown's death was a "heartbreaking" loss to the Seat Pleasant community where he grew up before graduating Temple Hills' Crossland High School in 2004.
"His endless dedication to Seat Pleasant is just unspeakable," Gatling said. "He definitely encouraged me. I remember him saying just Wednesday when he called me, ‘We have to do something for our kids. I think together we can do something in this community.' He said, ‘Do you need anything? Let me know.'"
Gatling said the city plans to hold a memorial program for Brown at Holly Park at the end of Birchleaf Avenue but has not set up a date and time yet.
On Friday, Seat Pleasant City Hall flew the state and city flags at half-staff in remembrance of Brown and will do so next week.
"We're expecting to definitely honor him and the things that he did in this community," Gatling said.
At Crossland High School, several teachers and staff members who knew Brown sat around a table Friday morning looking in disbelief at his senior photo in the 2004 yearbook.
Assistant Principal Stephanie Lyon, who said she is also close with Brown's sister, Janet Brown, recalled that Brown was always respectful to teachers and administrators and would mentor other male students when he was at Crossland.
"We've lost a role model for our young guys," she said. "He's what you call ‘a good guy,' and our guys need to know we have success stories, and now his life was cut short."
Security counselor Deborah Queen said Brown would visit her and other teachers and staff members he was close with a few times each year, and that he last visited about a month ago. She said Brown was known throughout the building for his "big smile."
"He just had that smile on," she said, remembering his most recent visit. Queen said that when she heard about what had happened, "I wish we had 1,400 more [students] like him."
According to the 2004 yearbook, Brown was a member of the varsity football squad — he wore jersey number 51 — and several teachers recalled that he used to talk about wanting to go into law enforcement.
Career counselor Sandra Craft said Friday that Brown came into her office in November to volunteer for the school's career day, which took place March 11. Although he had to leave the event early because he was needed on duty, Craft said his desire to volunteer was a testament to his commitment to work with young people.
"It's a loss to the community," she said. "For him to rise up through it all and then to be struck down in this way, it's not right."
Published on NBC Washington - June 11, 2010
Search under way for suspect
An intense search is under way for a man who shot and killed a Maryland State Trooper early Friday morning at a restaurant, possibly over an unpaid bill.
It happened outside the Applebee's restaurant on Donnell Drive in Forestville, Md. Prince George's County police shut down several roads in the area, including Pennsylvania Avenue.
Officials have identified the trooper as Wesley Brown. He had been a state trooper for more than three years.
"There's no way to make sense of this, of the murder of a dedicated 24-year-old trooper who was doing his job," Gov. Martin O'Malley said.
Brown was working off-duty at the Applebee's restaurant. Police said the shooting was the result of an incident earlier in the evening at the restaurant. They said a customer refused to pay the bill and became disorderly at about midnight, News4's Megan McGrath reported, and Brown escorted him out of the restaurant.
Police believe that the person returned a half-hour later and shot Brown and then fled on foot. Police said Brown was wearing a jacket clearly marked with "Police" on the back, and he had his service weapon on him, but he didn't have time to pull it, McGrath said. The gun was found at the scene.
Police said the initial investigation showed that Brown was talking on the phone when he was shot without warning. Multiple shell casings were found at the scene.
Police said they are looking for a black man between 5-feet-6-inches and 5-feet-8-inches tall and about 130 pounds. He was described as having a light beard and wearing a light blue "Hugo Boss"-type jacket.
The gunman ran from the scene, and police believed he might be hiding out nearby, so officers fanned out to search the neighborhood, McGrath reported. They expected to reopen closed roads by noon.
A close friend told News4's Elaine Reyes that Brown grew up in Seat Pleasant, Md., was a graduate of Crossland High School, and was engaged to be married. Brown started a mentoring program for young people in his neighborhood when he was 21-years-old to help them become responsible adults, according to MSP spokesman Greg Shipley.
"He reached out to them, those in his community," said Seat Pleasant Mayor Eugene Grant. "He saw the conditions that they lived under. He understood the pressures that they had to deal with every single day. And as a result of that, he reached out to them to let them know that there is a better life."
Brown was planning to take his group on a trip to New York today, Reyes said. His pickup truck has become a memorial.
Brown was the 42nd Maryland state trooper to die in the line of duty. Maryland flags will be flown at half staff in honor of an off-duty state trooper who was shot and killed, the Associated Press reported.
Published on Southern Maryland Online - June 11, 2010
FORESTVILLE, Md. (June 11, 2010) – Maryland State Police are mourning the loss of one of their own who was shot and killed while working off-duty security early this morning in Prince George’s County.
The trooper is identified as Trooper First Class Wesley W. Brown, 24, of Prince George’s County, Md. He was assigned to road patrol duties at the Forestville Barracks. TFC Brown joined the Maryland State Police on October 23, 2006.
TFC Brown was shot and killed early this morning while he was working a part-time security job at a restaurant in the 3400-block of Donnell Drive, Forestville, Md. A joint investigation involving the Maryland State Police, Prince George’s County Police, FBI, US Marshal’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Prince George’s County State’s Attorney’s Office, and other allied agencies is underway.
Governor Martin O’Malley joined Colonel Sheridan at the scene in Forestville early this morning for a briefing on the investigation. Later, they both visited with members of TFC Brown’s family and expressed personal condolences.
Published in the Washington Post - June 11, 2010
An off-duty Maryland state police officer was shot and killed early Friday in the parking lot of a Forestville area restaurant, police said.
Wesley Brown, 24, was shot shortly before 12:40 a.m. at the Applebee's Neighborhood Grill and Bar on Donnell Drive after an incident inside the restaurant involving a “disorderly” customer who refused to pay a bill, Col. Michael Blow told reporters.
Maryland State Trooper Wesley Brown. (AP/Maryland State Police)Brown, who was working part-time as a security officer at the Applebee's, escorted the individual outside, police said. About 30 minutes later, a gunman ambushed the trooper as he exited the restaurant. The man who disputed his bill is considered a “person of interest,” police said, but they are not limiting their search to him.
Brown appeared to have been shot without warning as he spoke on a mobile phone, Terrence B. Sheridan, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police, told reporters. Brown was wearing a jacket that displayed the word “police” and he had a marked police car in front of the restaurant, police said.
The wounded trooper stumbled into the restaurant covered in blood, at which point patrons called 911, police said.
Brown was taken to a hospital, where he was pronounced dead. It wasn't clear how many times he had been shot, but multiple casings were found in the parking lot, Sheridan said.
“We have recovered a lot of evidence,” Maj. Andy Ellis, a county police department spokesman, said.
Police describe the suspect, who fled on foot, as an African American male between about 5’ 6” and 5' 8" weighing about 130 pounds with short hair and a little bit of a beard who was wearing a Hugo Boss jacket. He is considered armed and dangerous, police said.
A perimeter was set up immediately after police arrived at the scene and a search is ongoing. More than 50 witnesses have been interviewed, police said.
“We won’t stop until we find this man,” Sheridan said.
Terrence B. Sheridan, Superintendent of the Maryland State Police, and Gov. Martin O'Malley speak to reporters. (Gerald Martineau/Post)Gov. Martin O'Malley told reporters that the investigation is “very, very active.”
“There are a small number of brutal, cold people that would take another’s life without thinking about it,” O'Malley said. “That’s what happened here.”
Brown, a 3 ½-year veteran of the Maryland State Police, was an active member of the Seat Pleasant community, where he attended Crossland High School and studied criminal justice at Prince George’s Community College Community College in Largo. He was the youngest cadet in his police academy class to graduate.
In 2007, he founded a mentoring group, Young Men Enlightening Younger Men, that would take teenagers on field trips throughout the D.C. area to places like the National Zoo and museums, and bring in professionals to give talks.
Brown described the group’s mission on its Web site to help kids struggling academically.
“What happens to those who try, but who just don’t make it because of poor school systems or a lack of support from home? Where does he go?” Brown wrote. “We believe that if a young man is trying to make himself a better man and a productive member of society, then we are PROUD of him.”
Brown found common cause with struggling kids, having run into problems himself as a high school student, according to a 2007 Maryland Gazette article. At one point, he was kicked out of school for fighting.
“When I got expelled, it kind of upset my family,” Brown told the paper. “So from then I had to do right. That’s why I started working, staying out of trouble and doing well in school.”
Eugene Grant, the mayor of Seat Pleasant, said Brown “was a tremendous light in our community.”
“He was an excellent example of someone who not only served and protected, but also gave back to his community,” Grant said.
“He always had a smile on his face,” he said.
Brown had recently become engaged to be married.
The last Maryland State trooper to die in the line of duty was Mickey C. Lippy, 34, a trooper and paramedic who was killed when his helicopter crashed in bad weather in Prince George's County.
In Memory of Trooper Wesley Brown
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