CofCC
November 15, 2014
The media is beatifying another violent criminal for sainthood. His only qualification is being black and forcing a police officer to have to shoot him in self-defense.
Raupheal Thomas just got out of prison for armed robbery. On Monday November 3rd, a homeowner called police to report two suspicious men he thought were casing houses. When police arrived, Raupheal Thomas fought with police. An officer shot and killed him. A gun was recovered at the scene.
The Cleveland Plain Dealer has begun his beatification process for sainthood. He was “a loving father” who was “turning his life around.” He was a great athlete and a great artist. He practically raised his infant daughter from the dead.
Another gentle giant cut down in his prime.
Raupheal Thomas lightened the mood of the rooms he walked into and was a neat-freak who began turning his life around with the birth of his daughter.
Thomas was a barber and tattoo artist. His mother described him as a “gentle giant.”
“He was a happy young man, a jokester,” Sherry Wilkerson said. “He was always laughing and making people laugh.”
Thomas was shot to death Monday by one of two police officers who had been investigating a report of suspicious people walking on Orrin Avenue. Neither officer has been identified.
Akron police are investigating the circumstances surrounding the city’s first fatal shooting by a police officer since an officer shot Dawayne L. Grant Sr., 35, on July 26, 2012.
Wilkerson said her son loved to skateboard as a kid and was born with a natural artistic talent that he used to design T-shirts, tattoos and haircuts.
“He was the person who would come up to you and cheer you up when you were down,” Wilkerson said. “He’s not this monster they’re making him out to be.”
Wilkerson said Thomas was a popular athlete who ran track at his West Virginia high school. After the family moved back to Akron, he started hanging out with the wrong crowd, Wilkerson said.
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Family members say he turned his life around, especially after the birth of his 1-year-old daughter.
Myeishia Harrison, Thomas’ girlfriend and the mother of his child, said they met three years ago through a family member that was dating Thomas’ best friend. Their first date was on Valentine’s Day.
“We went to get ice cream,” Harrison said. “It wasn’t anything big, but it was the best date ever. We just sat and talked.”
Thomas earned his barber’s license and worked out of his cousin’s tattoo parlor, Elevation Tattoos.
Harrison said she and Thomas struggled for years trying to get pregnant. Then their daughter stopped breathing for several minutes shortly after she was born.
“He went over there and was talking to her and she woke right up and she hasn’t stopped since,” Harrison said. “She’s like him just like him: always on the go, always on the move. When they saw each other, they just brought so much joy to each other. They had the same smile.”
Wilkerson said Thomas would sing to his daughter and she would laugh uncontrollably.