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Mother speaks out on son’s homicide, calls for justice

By Alyssa Choiniere achoiniere@heraldstandard.Com 7 min read
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Billy “Blacc” James died trying to help a friend, according to his mother.

But all witnesses to the Halloween killing deny seeing the shooter, according to investigating Trooper Alec Hamilton.

“Everybody ran after he got shot, but nobody will tell the police who shot him,” said James’ mother, Victoria Smith. “I have a problem with that.”

James, 35, was killed at about 1:40 a.m. Oct. 31 outside of Double Vision Bar and Grille at 6 Oliver Rd. in North Union Township. Police have no suspects.

They said a fight broke out and spilled into the parking lot after the patrons were kicked out. The fight escalated to homicide within two to three minutes.

Hamilton said the fight was between “two groups of people that had a problem with each other.”

“I would loosely call them ‘gangs,'” he said.

Hamilton said James was not affiliated with either gang, and he was not a target in the fight.

It is unclear what happened between the outbreak of the fight and shots fired, or why those shots were fired at James.

Smith, who lives in Virginia Beach, Virginia, was not there to see what happened. But she has received accounts from friends who were with him that night.

She said the night began at a friends’ house eating dinner. Her son had no intentions of going out. The last time Smith and James talked, he said he was planning to “lay low” that week because an injured foot was causing him problems.

The friend told Smith someone began calling and texting James frantically, asking him to come out because someone was going to “jump him.” He wasn’t dressed to go out, and had already told his friends he was staying in.

“She said his phone kept ringing, ringing, ringing, buzzing, buzzing buzzing,” Smith said. “She said, ‘Well don’t go. Just stay with us.'”

Eventually, the friend who said he needed help swayed him, Smith said.

When he arrived at the bar, she said one gang was already there. When another came, a fight broke out on the dance floor.

Smith said everyone was kicked out of the bar, and James tried to break up the fight outside.

Smith said James’ friends told her someone punched him on his right side and another person punched him on his left, but he maintained his balance.

Then a gun was drawn.

Smith said his friend tried to speak out for him.

“They said, ‘Don’t shoot Blacc! Don’t shoot him! He’s cool!” she said. “‘He don’t mess with nobody.'”

James was shot three times in the chest.

Smith said she received phone calls and texts from numbers she didn’t recognize, saying her son had been shot.

The final call came from a doctor.

“The physician said he did everything he could to save my son, but it was just impossible with the amount of blood that was lost and the way the bullets penetrated the organs,” she paused. “They said ‘Don’t shoot Blacc,’ but (his friends are) saying (they) don’t know who shot him either.”

Smith said she understands that the witnesses are scared of retaliation, but she wants them to understand that violence continues if no one talks.

“I just need them to position themselves as if it were their child,” she said. “I understand death – too much. But this is my son.”

She said there are ways to give information to police that will protect them from retaliation.

Hamilton said police are getting leads “here and there,” but still have no suspects.

“At this point, we don’t have anyone who’s willing to come forward and say they witnessed the shooting,” he said.

Smith called on those who witnessed her son’s murder to speak to police.

“I just want them to do what’s right. That’s all I ask,” she said. “But the end of the day, I know I serve a just God. They will get caught one day.”

Smith said she wants people to think about their community and keeping it safe, and to acknowledge that if it happened to her son, it could happen to anyone.

James grew up in a military family and joined the U.S. Army. He served for 10 years, and was buried in the National Cemetery of the Alleghenies in Bridgeville.

He was a father of five children, ages 1 to 15.

“I’m just trying to tell them, ‘He’s in heaven. He has his wings now, and he’s watching over you,'” she said.

She said she is trying to address the loss with each of them at their individual age levels.

“It’s very rough for the oldest one,” she said. “I just talked to her. We’re trying to get her back on track.”

While the oldest one is grieving, she said the middle children are lonely, and just miss their father.

“All they do, when they go down that street, is scream ‘I want my dad,’ she said. “The 1-year-old, he’s just having a good time, seeing all these people. He doesn’t know what’s going on.”

James was known in Uniontown for his work with the East End youth. But Smith said her son started serving as a role model when he was a child, as the oldest sibling of four. She said his nieces and nephews looked up to him, and he took on a leadership role in the family with his siblings.

“He wanted to make sure they got everything done, got their chores done, before they went out and played,” she said.

Although his volunteer work with Uniontown youth revolved around sports, she said he was an academic, favoring chess tournaments to sports teams. She said he was very involved with church.

With her husband in the military, she said James adjusted well as the family moved from duty station to duty station, and he made friends quickly.

Smith said she and James talked every week, always on Sundays after church. The last time they talked was the Sunday before he was killed. Their main topic of discussion was a visit home with his children.

“This year, we made plans that he would bring all the children home to have a big family gathering at Thanksgiving,” she said. “But of course that didn’t happen.”

Smith said family gatherings are loud and boisterous. But she doesn’t just tolerate the noise. She loves it.

James was planning on moving home to be closer to his family, and was beginning his transition by transferring his volunteer roles to others in the community.

“He never got that opportunity,” she said. “I just wanted him to come home and be closer. I just wanted to have all the kids at home at one time.”

She is founding advocacy groups to raise awareness about the degrading effect violence has on communities. She is planning to start one group in Uniontown, and another in Virginia Beach.

Smith said she is relying on her faith to help her cope.

“Even through some of these darkest days, when I’m not able to see God, I trust him,” she said. “It’s going to be OK, and I know that he has me and my family. This is only going to make me stronger.”

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