NEWBURGH – The funeral service for
Terence West Jr., the 16-year-old Newburgh youth who was shot to death
on Saturday, April 9, was held Friday morning.
The service at Holy Temple Church on South Street in the City of Newburgh
drew well over 100 people from the community.
Friends, family and supporters of the victim were saddened and outraged
at the circumstances of his death. Latija Cobbs, a friend of the victim’s
father who knew Terence his entire life, said parents need to start being
more attentive to their children if there is any hope of preventing future
violence.
“We need to come together and start telling our kids we love them
more or we’re going to see this more often,” said Cobbs.
Councilwoman Gay Lee said the tragedy is further proof that the government
institutions of Newburgh are failing their community.
Large number of mourners attend West’s funeral
“This death is yet another indication that the city council and
the school board have been a big failure,” said Lee. “We need
to start coming to the table with a plan and not a plan based on something
that you think happened to you but, a plan, a real plan that impacts everybody
that helps everybody. Outside of that, they’re shooting from the
hip and it don’t mean nothing.”
Lee said she believes the council that is supposed to be protecting the
people of the community is pandering to bogus legislation and new steps
need to be taken to make sure the community has the support it needs.
“Until we stop really focusing on nonsense legislation and start
really taking into consideration that lives matter, we’re going
to have problems and we’re going to continue to have problems,”
she said. “Our kids are not going to go to college; they’re
going to go to jail. Our kids are not going to jail; they’re going
to go in the grave. It’s really that simple. We have to develop
the legislation.”
Lee and others in the community believe despair and lack of jobs in the
city are creating an environment where kids have to create their own activities,
in many cases, leading to violence. Lee hopes with economic boosting and
job opportunities, tragedies like this can be avoided in the future.
West was laid to rest at Woodlawn Cemetery in New Windsor.
He is survived by his parents, Audrey and Terence West and siblings Raymond
Russell Jr., Teranea Mary West, Shatera West, Terry Nasir West and Terajie
Amir West, as well grandparents, aunts and uncles.
