It’s the 4th of July, 2005 in Tulsa, Oklahoma. This is a night for celebration in most homes. It’s a time when most families are happily enjoying each other’s company. This is not true for the family of Dayo Adetula. This night, tragedy has touched his family.
His son, Joseph, was walking home from the convenience store. He never made it there. He was shot nine times by unknown killers at approximately 8:40 pm. His life was abruptly ended at the prime of his life. Joseph was eighteen when he passed away.
It is a nightmare that his loving family has yet to recover from. They are unable to get over their grief because to this date their son’s killers have not been identified. All they could find out was that the killers used a tan or gold vehicle. There have been witnesses to come forward and help them find out who did this.
The police have also been unable to make much headway in this case with so little evidence and no one who can give more information on what actually happened. Detective Jeff Felton has asked anybody with any knowledge that may help the police to close this case to please contact him. They are guaranteed anonymity so that they need not be afraid to talk and help bring these people to justice.
What makes the families grief even harder to bear is hearing news such as the case against Mr. James Yang, who has been charged with animal cruelty in Muskogee, Oklahoma. Here, even with all the evidence showing that he was doing nothing more than protecting his property, Mr. Yang is facing trial on September 13, 2006 for shooting 2 dogs that trespassed on his property and were harassing his livestock in the middle of the night late in March.
So much attention was given to the death of the two dogs that Mr. James Yang may end up in prison, justly or not. Joseph Adetula is a person, not a dog, yet no one will pay for the crime. The killers continue to roam free, justice un-served.
Losing a loved one is never easy, human or animal, but aren’t our children more precious to us than our pets? There is no greater pain to a parent than losing the child that they thought would outlive them. It is difficult enough to deal with losing them, but when they are lost so senselessly, so abruptly – no words can express the depths of their sorrow.
Joseph Adetula was the victim of a senseless, violent crime – a drive by shooting. His killers are most likely also in their teens. That is another tragedy – that the children are growing up to believe violence is ok.
The Adetula family has created the Joseph Adetula foundation that aims to turn young people into the positive leaders of their communities by helping them achieve positive futures by showing them how much the youth matters; and how to avoid the negative things tempting them everyday. The foundation also aims to help other victims and families heal from similar tragedies, as they too grieve and try to make a difference through their son’s loss.
