Tragic murder of Tyrone Thompson shatters community

On May 22, brothers Tyrone and Tony Thompson, both of Kwame Building Group, watched 17 African-American men they mentor graduate from Carnahan High School of the Future.

They were all dressed in tailored suits that Kwame had custom-made for them. The high school graduates are part of the Gentlemen’s Club, a young men’s mentoring group at Carnahan that Kwame sponsors.

Exactly two weeks later, according to charges filed in St. Louis County, two 18-year-old African-American men shot and killed Tyrone Thompson.

He was 47, a former police officer for 20 years and a single father of three.

On June 5 at about 11 p.m., Tyrone was sitting in his dark SUV under a shady maple tree, waiting outside a friend’s house on the 12300 block of Jerries Lane in a peaceful neighborhood in North St. Louis County.

According to police reports, two men, who have been identified as Jakeem Hicks and Billy L. Cushshon-Bey, had left a dice game at a nearby home where they lost money and had told others they were going to go pull a robbery.

Police found Hicks dead in a nearby driveway with a bandana covering the lower half of his face.

Cushshon-Bey was seen returning from the scene of the crime and had a gun in his hand, according to police reports. He was seen getting into his car and leaving the area. Cushshon-Bey has been charged with two counts of murder, attempted robbery and armed criminal action.

Jan Boyer, division 38 clerk for St. Louis County Circuit Court, said Cushshon-Bey went before the judge on Tuesday and said he would hire a private attorney. Cushshon-Bey declined to speak to the The American, said Lillie Hopkins, of the St. Louis County Department of Justice Services.

Neighbors said they had never experienced anything like it in their quiet Black Jack neighborhood.

For Tony Thompson, founder and CEO of Kwame, he never imagined losing his brother. Their mother, African-American political pioneer Betty L. Thompson, did not expect to bury her son.

‘My best friend’

“He was my best friend,” Tony said. “He would do anything for anybody. I feel lost and alone.”

Tyrone, two years younger than Tony, was responsible for facility maintenance and management for the Kwame Building Group, as well as asset management. Tony relied so much on him that when the police brought him Tyrone’s keys, which were numerous, Tony didn’t know what any of them opened. Tyrone took care of all the buildings, the vehicles, the copiers, the security, among many other things. Tony didn’t realize how much he relied on him, he said.

“You can take a lot of risks when you don’t have to worry that things are getting done, and you know someone’s got your back,” Tony said. “That makes all the difference in a lot of people’s lives.”

Tyrone also worked part-time for Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster as an investigator.

“It is impossible to separate my sadness from my anger,” Koster said. “I am broken-hearted for the Thompson family and have profound sympathy for their pain and tragic loss.”

Tyrone grew up in University City and worked as a police officer there for about 18 years. In the past few days, even former convicts have come to pay their condolescences to the family, Tony said. He was well respected in the community as an officer.

Tyrone was also taking night classes at Webster University to finish his degree in business. Although Tony always pressured him to pursue a college education, Tyrone was getting a degree to be an example and role model to his children. Tyrone’s son, Tyrell, is a senior at the Art Institute of California. His daughter, Kayla, is in her first year at Hampton University, and his youngest son, Tyler, is a high school student in the Hazelwood School District.

Tony said Tyrone began to notice a difference in how he held a conversation after pursuing his degree.

“He would say, ‘Now I understand the confidence of having an education,’” Tony said of his brother. “It came through in our conversations.”

Good guys and bad guys

Tony said so often in these types of situation, the emphasis is focused heavily on the “two bad guys.” People will see the faces of the suspects flashing on television, and whether they want to or not, their perception of black men becomes more negative, he said.

Tony said his brother would prefer for people to know that at Carnahan, a St. Louis Public School, 100 percent of the seniors involved in the Gentlemen’s Club are now going on to college with scholarships. And 90 percent of Carnahan’s college seniors graduate, he said.

“Perception is powerful,” Tony said.

Every time people see President Barack Obama on television, whether they want to or not, their perception of black men alters, he said.

“Every time people came in contact with Tyrone, their perception of police officers changed,” Tony said. “Black men were viewed better. Black fathers were viewed better. One person can make a difference.”

Tyrone believed that a good education system was at the heart of solving crime and unemployment, Tony said. He was the president of a non-violent support group for children, who would take trips down South. He was part of the mentoring group at Carnahan, where a majority of the men came from single-mother homes with no male influence.

“As it relates to the African-American community, politicians are not going to fix it,” Tony said. “Legislation is not going to fix this. The only thing that can fix this is the black community. The black men have to fix this.”

Recently, Roland J. Corvington, FBI Special Agent in Charge of the St. Louis region, visited the Gentlemen’s Club and talked about his duties. Many of the young men have never had the opportunity to meet black men who were in positions of authority like that, Tony said. About 50 percent of the club members said they were interested in entering law enforcement.

Law and enforcement

Tony was glad that when Tyrone left law enforcement, after serving as the Pagedale police chief, and came to work for at Kwame. Both the brothers had recently obtained their licenses to carry concealed weapons.

According to police reports, Tyrone was found in the middle of the street with his car engine still running. Tony suspects that Tyrone sensed the two men were approaching him and got out of his car with his weapon. For initiations into gangs, Tony said, the prospective members are often asked to rob and kill someone.

“He did his job to the end,” Tony said, believing the two young men could have gone on to hurt someone else.

On the evening Tyrone was shot, Jamala Whittaker, 24, was coming home from a friend’s house on his bike. He heard the first two shots, and he waited on Parker Road, a few blocks away, he told The American. After the second round of shots, he started riding home, completely unaware that the shooting happened in front of his house.

When Whittaker saw Tyrone lying in the street, he immediately began CPR, which he learned in high school at Cleveland NJROTC. He had never seen someone dying nor had he put CPR to use in an actual emergency.

Whittaker was so numb from shock and focused on saving Tyrone that he didn’t hear the police arrive, he said. He didn’t feel them try to pull him off. He didn’t realize he was trying to get back to Tyrone so forcefully that the police officers had to taze him.

A carpentry student in St. Charles, Whittaker said he hasn’t slept well since the event. Though he didn’t know Tyrone, he will join many others who did – including parents Jack and Betty Thompson, Tony Thompson and rest of their shattered family – at Tyrone’s funeral service.

“The entire community grieves the loss of Tyrone Thompson,” said Kacie Starr Tripplet, alderwoman for Ward 6, “I don’t know anyone who has not been rattled by the untimely death of Tyrone.”

Tyrone’s violent murder also has sparked new calls for commitment to helping the youth that have been lost to the streets.

“I am like a blood brother to the Thompsons,” said Brother Anthony Shahid. “This means it is time to go into the streets and talk to these young brothers. If not now, when?”

Arrangements

Visitation: Friday, June 11

10 a.m. to 7 p.m.

William C. Harris Funeral Directors Chapel

9825 Halls Ferry Rd.

Funeral

Saturday, June 12

10 a.m.

San Francisco Temple Church

10191 Halls Ferry Rd.

Burial

Saturday, June 12