Detroit, MI
Detroit block party scrutiny should have come months ago, after teen was killed | Opinion
The May 18 shooting of Taylor Gladney should have been the Detroit Police Department’s first warning that the city needed to crack down on large gatherings at houses during the summer.
Taylor, 17, wanted to hang out that Saturday night with other teenagers. It was an annual event held in different areas in the city. Her mom, LeCretia McCollough, was apprehensive, but decided to let her go.
Less than an hour later, Taylor was shot and on May 22, her family took her off of life support, ending her life.
“I’m upset at myself for allowing her to go because of the outcome, but we can’t predict the future or what’s going to happen,” McCollough says. “People get upset (and) they want the families to feel what I’m feeling, but my heart won’t allow me to do so. I would never wish this pain on anybody, but you want answers.”
Detroit police announce block party crackdown after 21 people shot
Now her family, still mourning, is left wondering whether the city should have made moves to curtail neighborhood violence before an astounding 27 people were shot at six Detroit parties during the long Fourth of July weekend.
Taylor’s May shooting, which occurred on Manning Street near Gratiot Avenue, was only a few blocks from the worst of last weekend’s shootings, where 21 were shot Saturday at a party near Rossini Drive and Reno Street, two of them killed.
More: Detroit block party mass shooting was the state’s worst since at least 2013
“That’s the very frustrating part. I’m angry about (last weekend) because I’m quite sure (police) knew that there was a party going on,” says Taylor’s father Tyrell Gladney.
“I don’t know what police can do, except for when they see a super large gathering, just put some presence there. Just sit there, because that’s not going to stop a family — just having a party — have a party. (But) it will probably stop the guys that’s coming around, just shooting up the parties for no reason. Every time I look at my daughter I have to cry and I get angry.”
The infrequent police presence bothers me, and should annoy anyone else who intimately cares for this city, that it took Police Chief James White and Mayor Mike Duggan so long to roll out their new plan for these “block parties” in city neighborhoods.
Taylor was set to be a senior at University Prep High School, the same school she attended since fifth grade. Her mom says Taylor is the loving, cuddling type of child who rarely got upset with people and was called the mother among her group of friends. The cheerleader also loved her hair and wanted to be presentable at all times.
“She was just full of life,” says LeCretia McCollough, who’s lost 30 pounds since Taylor’s death. “This pain is indescribable. I am having a hard time, because even at 17, my daughter was such a hugger and cuddler.
“I still wait (for) her at night to come get in the bed with me because she wanted to be rubbed on or she is cold and wanted my body heat. So, I’m having a hard time, especially at night.”
That’s what infuriates me. The city had a chance to come up with a plan months ago and blew it.
But let’s be clear: these are not typical block parties that many of us are used to where the block is shut down at each corner and neighbors gather for an afternoon of fun.
These are more like street parties where young people take over a block, or gatherings at a person’s house where loud music and people spill into the front lawn or other areas of a neighborhood.
Whatever you want to call them, swift action could have been taken months before last weekend’s incidents. There were over 500 calls since May warning that this was getting out of control, police acknowledged.
Instead, this city — which touts a major comeback — waited until Monday to get results from its leaders.
I’m sure I’m not alone in saying we want a proactive city government — not one that comes out with plans in the aftermath of international headlines.
By then, it’s too late. Too many lives have been lost, whether it was Taylor or Elijah Reese, a sophomore at East English Village Preparatory Academy who was killed on his way home from school May 22 in the same neighborhood.
“I didn’t know anything about a ‘red zone’ until my daughter’s situation,” Tyrell Gladney says. “They said that area is known for high crime. If you’re known for high crime, put (in a) high police presence.”
What I’m not understanding is why the Detroit Police Department has not implemented any of what was put in place after a major shooting in 2015, where one man was killed and nine others were injured during a party at a basketball court on the west side.
Police officials and city spokesman John Roach did not respond to an email seeking comment for this story.
Twila Moss, who is Taylor’s aunt, is still upset that there has been little action to help people who are legitimately just trying to have fun.
“I guess I’m angry … Angry, sad and mad at the same time,” Moss says. (I’m) angry that it’s happening to so many of our youth.
“But the way I’ve been hearing it, it’s more like it’s someone else that’s coming to the party or shooting up these parties when it’s not really the people that’s at the parties. So do we not allow our kids to go out? Do we not allow them to have fun? Do we not have a gathering?”
What angers Tyrell Gladney the most is infrequent communication about his daughter’s killing, for which no one has been charged.
“I understand they have to get leads and stuff like that, but in my daughter’s situation, it took them a minute to come speak to us,” Tyrell Gladney says. “I haven’t or heard a whole lot either unless I reach out to them. (But) I understand the situation is tedious and there’s a lot going on with more shootings every other weekend.”
Having Detroiters safe in their neighborhoods is the most fundamental function of a city government.
Taylor’s killing should have been the start of putting plans in place, not nearly two months later.
By then — we learned the hard way Saturday night — it was too late.
Darren A. Nichols is a contributing columnist at the Free Press. He can be reached at darren@dnick-media.com or his X (formerly Twitter) handle @dnick12.
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Rick Mahorn talks about why he settled in Detroit
Rick Mahorn talks about the appeal of Detroit as a place to live and raise a family.
Hartford, Connecticut may be Rick Mahorn’s hometown, but Detroit has his heart.
The original Pistons’ “Bad Boy” has worn many hats in basketball, from player to coach to broadcaster, but now he is back in the coaching realm leading Detroit’s BIG3 team, the Detroit Amps.
“The city has always been good to me, I figured I have to give something back,” Mahorn said about coming back and representing Detroit. “The fact is that I made Detroit home and one thing about Detroit, it’s always going to love me and Imma love Detroit.”
Mahorn spent 18 seasons in the NBA and won the 1989 championship with the Pistons. After retirement in 1999 as a Philadelphia 76er, he started his coaching career with the Atlanta Hawks, and the “coaching phase” never faded.
Serving as the assistant coach for the Detroit Shock for four years, he helped lead them to two championships and moved up to the head coach position before the franchise was relocated.
Years later he joined the BIG3 when it launched in 2017 as the head coach for the Trilogy and won the league’s first ever championship, along with its first ever Coach of the Year Award. He recently stepped back into coaching for the BIG3 as the Amps coach.
Along with his love for coaching, his love for the Pistons was at the heart of it. In between each coaching position, he took a break to focus on being a color analyst for the Pistons radio network and recently completed his 20th season in that role.
“It keeps calling me back, but the thing I love about coaching is that you have to ‘each one, teach one,’” Mahorn said. “Someone taught me as a coach, that kept me on the straight and narrow, making sure I was always positive about what I do for a living, but basketball opens up so many avenues.”
Founded by Ice Cube and Jeff Kwatinetz, the BIG3 played its inaugural season in January 2017 with eight teams. It expanded to 12 teams in 2019 but dropped back to eight with new cities and logos.
Detroit was a part of the rebrand with the Detroit Amps, also known as the Detroit Amplifiers, and they joined the league last season.
Although this isn’t Mahorn’s first rodeo coaching in the BIG3, or coaching Detroit basketball, it is his first season coaching the Amps after taking over the role following the former coach, hall of famer George Gervin.
Mahorn technically never left the Detroit fan base, and has continuously been connected with the Pistons, but it is still a great feeling for him to be back coaching on Detroit’s side for the Amps.
“What they do to me is keep me young. You think you getting old and the next thing you know you’re coaching some young guys,” Mahorn said. “I want them to have the respect of being a professional. The fact is they’re the ones carrying the torch later.”
Ice Cube or Kwatinetz weren’t in attendance Saturday, but Ice Cube’s son, Oshea Jackson Jr., was present and working with CBS Sports on interviews.
Other celebrities came out to support, like Pistons forward Ronald Holland, former Detroit Amps head coach and hall of famer George Gervin, and local artist Payroll Giovanni, who performed at halftime of the Amps game.
Week two of season nine kicked off Saturday, and the Amps continued their losing streak, falling to 0-2 after a 51- 44 loss to Miami 305.
This isn’t the only time Michiganders will see the league this season at Little Caesars Arena. It will be back for week six on July 23.
“Detroit is a beautiful city — it’s a hardworking city,” Mahorn said. “One thing about Detroit: they embrace everybody that comes back, that’s done some things — the championships I have in my repertoire, but it’s just the fact that I just love Detroit.”
BIG3 WEEK TWO RESULTS
Game 1: Dallas Power 50, LA Riot 33
Game 2: Chicago Triplets 51, DMV Trilogy 49
Game 3: Miami 305 51, Detroit Amps 44
Game 4: Boston Ball Hogs 51, Houston Rig Hands 36
Detroit — The Tigers will get pitcher Jack Flaherty back in the starting rotation for a start in the series finale against the Houston Astros on Sunday, manager AJ Hinch confirmed on Saturday.
Flaherty, who has been on the 15-day injured list since June 13 with a strain of the peroneal tendons in his left foot/ankle, will get back on the active roster with a yet-to-be-announced move on Sunday morning, as it’s the first day he’s eligible to come back from the IL.
“He’s good to go for tomorrow,” Hinch said. “We can’t make it official until the morning. But yeah, we’re fully expecting him to be good to go.”
Flaherty completed a rehab assignment with Double-A Erie on Tuesday, throwing 5⅔ innings of two-run ball with seven strikeouts.
That outing and the lack of any hang-ups in the days since have Flaherty on the precipice of his return. Hinch was hopeful that Flaherty could make his return on Sunday, and a few days earlier he recalled some words of motivation he gave the pitcher in a postgame handshake line.
“I told him, I was standing in the high-five line yesterday, that we’re getting closer, closer to him being back,” Hinch said. “So, he’s definitely the right amount of being agitated and wanting to pitch.”
With Flaherty back in the mix, Hinch is unsure if Detroit will stick with a six-man pitching rotation of Tarik Skubal, Framber Valdez, Casey Mize, Troy Melton, Keider Montero and Flaherty or take it back down to five. The latter option likely requires Montero to move into a bullpen role.
As of Saturday, the inflection point on any decision will be the series opener against the Texas Rangers on Thursday.
The plan is for Flaherty to pitch the finale against Houston. Detroit then travels to New York for a three-game series against the Yankees where it’s set up for Mize, Skubal and Melton to pitch Monday through Wednesday.
That Thursday opener against the Rangers, where Hinch will make a call between Valdez and Montero, sits in an odd pocket of the schedule, too, as the two teams are off on Friday before completing a three-game series over the weekend. That’s because there’s a Round of 32 game in the FIFA World Cup taking place in Arlington, Texas, that afternoon.
And with a day off the following Monday, Detroit has two days of rest in a four-day span after coming off a 14-game stretch without an off day.
“We’ll have a decision to make on Thursday, going to Texas,” Hinch said. “We can bring Framber back on regular rest. We could put Keider in there, do the six man. We’re kind of considering all of our options. Going with Jack coming in tomorrow kind of creates that decision for the back end of that. Then we have two off days surrounding the weekend. It’s really weird with the World Cup. We have that weird mid-series off day. So we’ll see.”
Hinch shares updates on Perez, Báez
The timeline for Wenceel Perez and Javier Báez to rejoin the active roster remains murky, though both are progressing in recovering from their respective injuries, Hinch said.
Perez, who suffered a fractured orbital bone on his left side after a resistance band under tension released and hit him the face last week, is on the 60-day injured list. Hinch shared that things are going slow in Perez’s recovery as all parties are basically waiting for the fracture to heal and Perez’s vision to be fully restored.
Perez is back in Detroit, but is otherwise laying low on any sort of rehab until the injury itself subsides enough.
“There’s a little bit of unknown on how long this can take but given — I mean, it’s like two-sided,” Hinch said. “You want everybody to know he’s safe and out of harm’s way. He’s just mending slowly in that. And the swelling, the vision, not disrupting the healing of the orbital bone, it’s a lot more sensitive than just getting hit in the face.”
Báez is getting back to some physical activity after taking some prolonged rest, which came as a result of his sprained right ankle not responding well to earlier rehab.
Báez has been on the IL since late April and got moved to the 60-day IL on June 11.
And despite the need for serious ramping up, Báez’s return to some light physical activity is a welcome sign for Hinch and Co. for an injury they worried could be much more serious.
“He’s doing well and going to continue on with his rehab and getting back into baseball stuff. There’s jump tests, there’s running, there’s the hitting, again,” Hinch said. “So the good news is he’s not shut down. That’s what our fear was. The continual delay is it has just been a complicated injury.”
Andrew Graham is a freelance writer.
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