Mount Vernon – At the town hall meeting held at The Mansion (4 North 3rd Avenue) to address the death of Raynette Turner, Tuesday night, her sister-in-law Elizabeth Turner-Parles, who along with Turner’s husband Herman and the Turner children sat and listened to the panelists and those who joined them in their fight for answers and justice.
Then one after another elected officials (some who admitted they weren’t invited came up to say a few words. Herman’s sister, Elizabeth could take it any longer and asked to speak. The family was already disturbed by Mayor Davis’ absence and sending someone to read a statement that cause Herman to get up and leave the room to regain his composure.
“This isn’t about politics, the Mayor couldn’t take time out to come here, my wife is dead, our children lost their mom,” Herman Turner tells BW after walking out of the town hall meeting. “He didn’t even respect us enough to show up in person.”
Elizabeth Turner-Parles got up and addressed the crowd and talked about these politicians, Mayor Davis and the Attorney General’s office, no one has told the family anything. They are seeking justice and searching for answers and no one will let them know what is going on. Visibly disappointed in seeing her brother leave the room and people talking about what they are doing, she could sit still no longer.
“No autopsy report… we are very upset about what’s going on, everything is going on around us,” Parles tells the audience. “For this one to come up and say they given us this information, this person has done this, this person has done that, Constance Malcolm, Danette Chavis, Cynthia [Turnquest-Jones], Kenneth Chamberlain, those are the only ones that are working with us.” (see her full comments below)
AJ Woodson
AJ Woodson is the Editor-In-Chief of Black Westchester and Co-Owner of Urban Soul Media Group, the parent company, Host & Producer of the People Before Politics Radio Show. AJ is a Father, Brother, An Author, Journalism Fellow (Craig Newmark Graduate School of Journalism), Hip-Hop Artist - one third of the legendary underground rap group JVC FORCE known for the single Strong Island, Radio Personality, Hip-Hop Historian, Documentarian, Activist, Criminal Justice Advocate and Freelance Journalist whose byline has appeared in several print publications and online sites including The Source, Vibe, the Village Voice, Upscale, Sonicnet.com, Launch.com, Rolling Out Newspaper, Daily Challenge Newspaper, Spiritual Minded Magazine, Word Up! Magazine, On The Go Magazine and several others.
