Late Chinedu Okobi
A 36-year-old promising Nigerian man, Chinedu Valentine Okobi has passed away after being tasered by police officers in California.
According to reports, Chinedu was running in and out of traffic and was stopped by some police officers.
Things degenerated between them and they used a taser on him before arresting him. Chinedu suffered mental health challenges following the incident. He was taken to the Mills-Peninsula Medical Center where he later died.
All five deputies involved in the taser incident have been placed on paid leave. The coroner’s office is still working to determine the cause of the death.
His older sister, Ebele Okobi, took to Facebook to share an emotional ttribute to him as she helps their mother plan his funeral. Read the tribute below
He was born the day before Valentine’s day, so close to the brother before him that people used to think they were twins. He had irresistibly chubby cheeks when he was a baby, which was unfortunate because he clearly found the resulting cheek pinching entirely beneath his dignity.
He was the last of we five, and my memories of him as a child all involve constant motion and extreme truth telling-from him barreling everywhere on extremely bowed legs, to that time, at three years old, when he solemnly informed our Sunday school teacher that he should chew some gum because he had bad breath (he was not wrong, and feedback is a gift).
When he graduated from Morehouse College, we were all so proud-he was smart, funny, hard-working, and incredibly kind, with an earnest streak that I found hilarious. He called me Little Big Sis, because he was 6 foot 3 and I am 5 foot 4 but still (always!) the bossy older sister.
He met a great girl, and they had a beautiful daughter, and I remember saying that I couldn’t believe that the kid whose diapers I had changed was now changing diapers of his own.
While he was studying for the GMAT, the voices started. We struggled for years to get him the right diagnosis and medications, and we were so proud of him for creating a good and kind life despite his struggles with mental health.
Last Wednesday, he was killed by police, in Millbrae, California. He was unarmed. He had committed no crime. So today, I helped my mother decide how to bury her son.
His name is now one of too many names.
Chinedu Valentine Okobi. He was a person. He was my little brother, he was a father, he was loved. Now he is gone, and our hearts are broken.
Black Lives Matter
Post a Comment