By Gus G. Sentementes and Julie Bykowicz and , gus.sentementes@baltsun.com and julie.bykowicz@baltsun.com|November 20, 2008
The 14-year-old, a boy who had sold drugs while his father was behind bars for attempted murder, was getting one last chance, his uncle said.
For about a month, Steven Graham was on community detention in Brooklyn, his every move tracked by an electronic monitoring ankle bracelet, the uncle said. The restrictions came after an arrest for drug possession, and there were other recent arrests for assault and suspected drug dealing. His uncle also thought he might be mixed up in a gang.
On Friday, court officials removed the ankle bracelet because Steven had fulfilled the orders of a Juvenile Court master in the drug case. Tuesday evening, Steven was shot to death while riding his bicycle past Engine Co. 35 fire station in Brooklyn, a few blocks from his house. Police said they think it might have been a drive-by shooting but had no suspects last night.
"If I had kept him under house arrest, he might still be alive," said his uncle, Harold Wilson, who said he lived with the boy and was helping to raise him. "We let him off after a month to give him one more chance."
Steven, whose nickname was "Jamaica," was an eighth-grader at Masonville Cove Community Academy in Brooklyn. He lived in the 500 block of Annabel Ave. with his uncle and other relatives.
His mother lives in Jamaica. His father, also named Steven Graham, has been locked up since his arrest in June 2006. In March 2007 in Baltimore Circuit Court, Graham pleaded guilty to attempted second-degree murder and using a handgun to kill Donta Roberts, 28, in Northwest Baltimore. Graham is serving his five-year sentence at the Maryland Correctional Institute in Hagerstown.
Wilson, 30, knew his nephew was in trouble, but he says he didn't know the extent of it. Steven was evasive when asked about his friends and activities, the uncle said.
For the past few months, Steven had been having problems. Three weeks ago, while Steven was walking home from school and wearing a red jacket - a color associated with the Bloods gang - he was jumped by boys who tried to beat him up, Wilson said. But he was able to run away.
About a month and a half ago, Wilson said, Steven claimed that his friend had been kidnapped and shot in the neighborhood. The friend survived, Wilson said, adding that he knew little about the crime, including the friend's real name.
