Obituary Brian Joseph Silldorff, 48 Columbia South Carolina

Brian Joseph Silldorff, 48, of Columbia, SC passed away on Wednesday, September 23, 2020 due to suicide after struggling for many years with depression.

 

Brian is survived by his beautiful wife, Alicia Chavis Silldorff; daughter, Josey Marie Silldorff; and his beloved dog, Jax. 

Brian was a 1989 graduate of Limestone HS in Bartonville, IL, a 1993 graduate of Western Illinois University in Macomb, IL. He earned his Masters Degree in 1994 from Western Illinois and immediately started his career in Charlotte, NC as the Youth Director at the Harris YMCA. 

While at the YMCA, he started the long standing programs Middle School Madness, and Jammin’ at the J that were attended by thousands of youth for many years. He then followed his heart and returned to youth ministry at St. John’s Episcopal Church in Charlotte, NC followed up with a call to serve as the youth minister at Trinity Episcopal Cathedral in Columbia, SC. 

Over his twenty years in youth ministry he led groups in over one hundred mission trips in the United States and over twenty mission trips to Costa Rica were he served as an Honorary Canon to the Episcopal Diocese of Costa Rica. 

Brian was recognized as the first youth minister to lead youth in raising over one million dollars through the World Vision youth engagement program, The 30 Hr. Famine. 

After Brian’s retirement from youth ministry he founded Youth Architects, a coaching and tutoring company for youth and young adults. 

He is also survived by his father and mother-in-law, Vaden and Linda Chavis of Lexington, SC; sister, Michelle Silldorff Burrell of St. Petersburg, FL; step-mother, Sandy Silldorff, Peoria, IL; step-siblings, Teresa (Troy) McCrery, Mike (Dawn) Brockhouse, and Kim (Bill) Troutt all of Illinois; 12 nieces and nephews; and hundreds of friends who were his family around the world. 

He is predeceased by his parents, Sandra Dearth McKinley and Herbert Joseph Silldorff. 

There will be a private service on Tuesday September 29, 2020 at 11:00 a.m. 

The service will be available to view via Facebook live. 

Barr-Price Funeral Home and Crematorium, Lexington Chapel, is assisting the family. 

In the words of Brian, “Close ‘em, fold ‘em, bow ‘em, this is the Lord’s time.”

Cedar's Take:

Mrs. Cedar and I've known Brian for more than 25+ years. The news comes as a shock and the sadness is overwhelming. Brian's obituary is frank statement of fact that was unexpected and is sobering. Brian was one of the most upbeat enthusiastic people we've ever known. His struggles with depression were unknown to us and we suspect most who knew him would say the same. 

Jatarius Quanya Jones Arrested Again (The 4th Time) for Shooting Someone

Another shooting of a child in this case two and the man with the gun another career thug.

20 year old Jatarius Quanya Jones, age 20, was on Charlotte's East Side around 5:45 Monday when he decided to bang off a dozen rounds for no apparent reason at the Sharon Pointe Apartments. Those rounds scattered about the apartment complex, striking a couple of apartments and two small children one age 11 and the other only 5. They where both shot while playing with their pet bunny just outside on a balcony.

The 11 year old remains hospitalized, his condition unknown but he injuries were said to be life threatening.

A little less than two hours later along West Sugar Creek and North Tryon Street "Little G" as he's known on the street shoots at a car narrowly missing three occupants. CMPD spotted the shooter's car and gave chase. A few miles later the driver crashed on Barringer Drive and the suspects including Jones were cuffed and stuffed.

Jones who began his life of adult crime at age 16 has steadily progressed to ever more violent crimes. 

Jones aka "Little G" was arrested back in May of  2019  for AWDWIKISI but even before that he was arrested for attempted murder in February of 2019. 

Each time DA Spencer Merriweather and the liberal judges of Mecklenburg County let this POS out of jail. This is NUTZ!

The justice system is broken and not the way the liberals what you to believe. 

Jatarius Jones aka "Little G" is a career violent felon who should never see life outside of a cage.

Considering he committed these attacks while wearing an EDM (ankle monitor) not only is he a violent thug he's also stupid beyond comprehension. That alone should earn a set of "boxcar'd" sentences. 

Local Paper "DA offered a Stern Rebuke" of CMPD

The Local fish wrapper is trying hard to stain CMPD officers with opinion commentary reported as news.  The spin should not surprise Charlotte's citizens who endure the never ending defund the police liberal agenda of the left and the Charlotte Observer as their propaganda tool.

But there it is again. The desperate effort to spin the news is just sad. 

While Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers face possible firings for their handling of the death of Harold Easter, they will not face criminal charges, Mecklenburg County District Attorney Spencer Merriweather announced Monday morning.

But Merriweather called Easter’s death “an abject failure” of police procedures. Easter died on Jan. 26, three days after his arrest and detainment in a police station.

Police Chief Johnny Jennings had recommended the firing of Officers Brentley Vinson, Michael Benfield, Michael Joseph and Shon Sheffield, and Sgt. Nicolas Vincent, in connection with Easter’s death.

New internal police review documents, released Friday by CMPD, show the officers involved saw Easter put drugs in his mouth. The records show the officers saw residue on Easter’s tongue and discussed how much of the substance he’d swallowed as he was arrested during a drug investigation just outside uptown Charlotte.

Inside a police substation, Easter had been strip-searched, shackled to the floor and left unattended when he suffered a seizure and cardiac issues, police and medical examiner records show.

In his review of the case, Merriweather said his office lacked the evidence to prove that the officers knew or should have known Easter had ingested cocaine and that their failure “amounted to criminal negligence.”

Merriweather offered a stern rebuke to how his office’s criminal justice partners handled Easter’s arrest and confinement.

In a lengthy letter to the SBI explaining his decision, Merriweather said that it was “wholly appropriate” to deem police actions on Jan. 23 an “abject failure of operating procedure and general standards of custodial care.”

Merriweather also said evidence in the case “suggests that the officers at least should have been aware of the real possibility that Mr. Easter had eaten contraband.” But to prove involuntary manslaughter, which Merriweather said was the most applicable charge, prosecutors would have to show that the officers’ failure to get Easter medical treatment, caused his death.

‘Indelible impression’

Merriweather said his office consulted three independent medical experts about the case.

None “would be able to testify to a degree of medical certainty that Mr. Easter would have lived after having ingested that amount of cocaine even if officers had called for medical attention at the time of the initial traffic stop,” the DA wrote.

While that erected an “insurmountable hurdle” in prosecuting a criminal case against the officers, Merriweather said, “it is important to note just how unmistakably grave the circumstances were surrounding Mr. Easter’s death.”

The district attorney said his most senior prosecutors, who brought “many years of experience in examining disturbing subject matter,” helped review the case.

“... The video image of Mr. Easter slowly beginning to perish, unattended, for over 15 minutes has left an indelible impression upon each of us,” Merriweather said.

Still angry

During a midday press conference in uptown Charlotte, Easter’s family again criticized police actions surrounding their loved one.

“Today’s decision does not bring my brother back,” his sister, Andrell Meckey, said. “I miss him every day but I’m still angry.”

“If he had been treated like a person with respect we wouldn’t be here today,” she said. “If they would have followed their policy ... we wouldn’t be here.”

Reforms sought

In a press conference Friday, Charlotte Mayor Vi Lyles said the case reveals that police reforms are needed.

“Through every part of what we do in this community, every action we take, I’m most proud that we can acknowledge when we need to do change,” Lyles said.

“I’m looking forward to the October release of our draft Community Safety Plan, because that plan not only deals with how do we address violence in this community, but it also addresses how we police this community as well.“

Several of the officers involved in the Easter case have been embroiled in controversy before.

In 2016, Vinson shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott during a confrontation with multiple officers outside Scott’s north Charlotte apartment, a shooting death that set off a wave of violent protests across parts of the city.

Merriweather’s predecessor, Andrew Murray, declined to press charges, saying Scott was armed and did not comply with multiple police orders to put down the weapon. The lawsuit filed by Scott’s family remains in federal court.

Joseph, then with the Huntersville police, was among the officers on hand in September 2017 when a 76-year-old evacuee from Hurricane Irma was fatally shot at a hospital after he pulled a gun. Again, Murray ruled that Joseph and the other Huntersville officer were justified in the killing of James Charles Cook of Florida.

CP's Take:

Easter was a career felon who was not stranger to law enforcement. People like Easter are routine, but sometimes the routine goes sideways. Given the amount of violence in Charloot this case is actually unusual. Given the level of in the open in plain sight drug dealing in CMPD's Metro Division Easter did not stand out as inherently stupid. But sadly he was.

CMPD Chief Throws Metro Division Officers and their Sergeant Under the BLM Bus

From the local Antifa promoting television station:

The five Charlotte-Mecklenburg police officers involved in the January in-custody death of Harold Easter were cited for termination this week following a Civil Service Board hearing, CMPD confirmed Friday morning.

Sgt. Nicolas Vincent, Officer Brentley Vinson, Officer Michael Benfield, Officer Michael Joseph and Officer Shon Sheffield had remained on administrative leave in the midst of an internal investigation.

Vinson is the same officer who shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott in 2016. At the time, a review board concluded he had followed proper procedure and prosecutors cleared him of any criminal wrongdoing.

A criminal investigation into the death of Easter remains open by the Mecklenburg County District Attorney's office.

CMPD internal investigation findings

On Thursday, an review board recommended the four officers and the one sergeant be cited for termination. CMPD Chief Johnny Jennings agreed with their decision and cited the five for termination.

"The sergeant and the officers had intimate knowledge that Mr. Easter had ingested and swallowed cocaine during the traffic stop," Jennings said Friday. "Additionally, the internal investigation determined Mr. Easter was left unattended inside an interview room for more than 20 minutes. At that time, he was clearly in need of medical attention."

CMPD video shows officers believed Easter swallowed cocaine and did not get him medical attention, despite the man repeatedly saying he was going to die, according to family attorney Alex Heroy.

"It is obvious that he needs immediate medical attention," Heroy told WCNC Charlotte earlier this year. "For a period of minutes, he was calling out for help, acknowledging the peril he is in and just repeating, 'I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die.' They just did nothing about it and they did nothing about it for a long, long time and then when they did try to give help, it was way too late."

Easter, 41, died on January 26. CMPD said police found cocaine and marijuana in his possession after the traffic stop, took him into custody and brought him to the police station on Beatties Ford Road.

Death records detail the events that followed.

"He reportedly exhibited (altered mental state) and subsequently fell out and exhibited seizure activity," a preliminary death summary by the medical examiner said. "He was admitted briefly with severe cardiac dysfunction. Reported (urine drug screening) positive for cocaine. Suspected crack cocaine was found in his vehicle. The clinical impression is intentional oral cocaine ingestion."

The medical examiner determined the probable cause of death to be cocaine toxicity and the manner of death to be accidental. The report shows a closed-circuit video captured all of it. Easter's family watched the video earlier this year.

"You can't see it in the video what he eat ate, but the officers remarked several times that he ate cocaine and then you can see him progressing from there," Heroy said.

Easter's sister Andrell Mackey said she was "really angry" when watching the video.

"You're supposed to protect and serve," she said. "How could you do this? What were you thinking? You didn't care about his health."

Jennings announced Friday the video would be released to the public on October 1. He described the video as "tough to watch."

"Had officers followed our policy, Mr. Easter may have been alive today," Jennings said Friday.

The SBI completed its independent investigation into Easter's in-custody death in June and handed over the full case file to the Mecklenburg County District Attorney's Office. The case remains open under District Attorney Spencer Merriweather's review.

It’s especially hard to watch considering Harold Easter may not have died had the officers cared more about the sanctity of his life.

In the days after Easter's in-custody death, CMPD changed its policy. The department now requires officers to continually watch people in their custody, not just check on them every 15 minutes as was the case at the time of Easter's death.

CMPD requires officers to immediately call MEDIC when they believe a person has swallowed contraband.

"Words are important. What you say today could impact how the public responds when everything comes out. Is there anything else you want to say to prepare the public what this investigation will reveal?" we asked Chief Jennings in June.

"I think the public's expectation is that we are here to protect and serve and save lives when we can and we're held accountable for that, so whatever the investigation reveals and whatever comes out of that, that's something that we're going to have to take a hard look at and see what changes we need to make to policy, what things we need to do better to help serve and protect our people and that's a big deal to us. It's a big deal to the officers that are in the street. They don't ever want to see an incident where somebody's life is lost while they are in our care."

Harold Easter's family

Jennings called Harold Easter's family Friday morning to inform them of their decision.

"...too early to comment as we have not seen the termination paperwork," defense attorney George Laughrun, who represents Officer Vinson, said Friday, "It just happened yesterday evening."

Family attorney Alex Heroy said Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department video will show officers believed Easter swallowed cocaine and did not get him medical attention. He said the video will also show Easter inside an interview room repeatedly saying he was going to die.

"It is obvious that he needs immediate medical attention," Heroy said. "For a period of minutes, he was calling out for help, acknowledging the peril he is in and just repeating, 'I'm going to die, I'm going to die, I'm going to die,'" Heroy said. "They just did nothing about it and they did nothing about it for a long, long time and then when they did try to give help, it was way too late."

The medical examiner determined the probable cause of death to be cocaine toxicity and the manner of death to be accidental. The report shows a closed-circuit video captured all of it. Easter's family has since watched the video.

"You can't see it in the video what eat ate, but the officers remarked several times that he ate cocaine and then you can see him progressing from there," Heroy said.

Citing of the officers for termination

"As I've stated in the past, I don't have the authority to actually terminate or fire an officer," Jennings explained Friday. "I cite them. They have their due process to the Civil Service Board. If they choose to appeal, the Civil Service Board will make that final determination."

Jennings signed off Friday on the board's Thursday recommendation to cite those officers.

"It's a very difficult decision all the way around," Jennings said.

The independent chain of command review board is comprised of officers across several ranks and a civilian from the Community Relations Committee.

It was not immediately known if those five officers would file appeals.

Vinson is the officer who shot and killed Keith Lamont Scott in 2016, prompting protests across Charlotte. A review board concluded he followed proper procedure and prosecutors cleared him of any criminal wrongdoing.

Sergeant Nicolas Vincent was hired on January 28, 2008, and was assigned to the Metro Division.

Officer Brentley Vinson was hired on July 21, 2014, and was assigned to the Metro Division.

Officer Michael Benfield was hired on October 27, 2014, and was assigned to the Metro Division.

Officer Michael Joseph was hired on May 21, 2018, and was assigned to the Metro Division.

Officer Shon Sheffield was hired on August 13, 2012, and was assigned to the Metro Division.

Cedar's Take:

Life Lesson No. 178 Never eat your own crack! It will kill you. Let's face it you can't fix stupid. Yes ICD is a bad thing, it should not had happened. But no part of this pandering to the extreme left will bring Harold Easter back or satisfy the Zombies in the streets.

Eating your drugs is just another stupid way of resisting arrest and people who resist when clearly the game is over are just stupid. Stop resisting arrest! 

Had they suspected he was actually going to die they could have just put him back on the street or transported him to the intake center. They didn't know what to do with him because there was no clear policy or chain of command to address their concerns or the situation. Yes the directives say "suspected" before transport to the intake center. Which leaves a lot of room for not doing what given the outcome would have been the correct thing to do. 

CMPD staff is down, as it is Metro is way understaffed, the last thing taxpayers need is 1/2 millions dollars in training flushed down the shitter and tossed under the bus but that is just what happened.

It just doesn't true up that five officers for whatever reason looked at Easter and said nah you're good bro knowing he was about to die.

So here's the why: Charlotte thugs know to "game" the system. The "I ate my drugs" or "I'm having a heat attack "will often get the suspect a free ride to CMC Main. Because these a usually low level offenders, CMPD doesn't have the staff to chain the suspect to a gurney, and as soon as CMC staff turn their back the perp is gone. 

This just another extension of Mecklenburg County's revolving door for criminals. Easy out, every time. 

And the idiots at jail support scream about bail reform, yet few pay bail most are out unsecured and many just go on to commit ever more violent crimes. 

Easter was a bad dude. 

Arrests in:

2002

2011

2012

2014

2015

2017

He was well known to LE in Mecklenburg and Gaston Counties. Years of probation and 1 year 7 month in state prison plus another 9 months on parole didn't convince Easter to change his life even at the age of 41.

Maybe he needed killing, as they say in the South? But that clearly wasn't the intent. Officers likely suspected he was lying and they were not about to let him get a free pass.

Yep they violated the rules, but ......

CMPD Deputy Chief Estella Patterson White Nationalism

Most everyone knows the YWCA Central Carolina is NOT the same as the YMCA.

Charlotte's YWCA has been since the start of this century a defiant thorn in Conservative Christian based YMCA.

So no surprise the YWCA whose motto is "We are on a mission to eliminate racism, empower women and promote peace, justice, freedom and dignity for all" would hold a panel discussion focusing on ending violence by law enforcement; fearing deportation/detainment; keeping safe from mass shootings and gun violence; ending sexual harassment at work or sexual assault and domestic violence at home; and fearing consequences of white nationalism and hate crimes."

As the promotion detailed: Panelists will share ways for attendees to take action on legislative issues of safety that women share.

Pretty much status quo for the far left LGBTQ wacktavist outfit the YWCA has become.

Like I said no surprise.

But what is a surprise, is that CMPD would allow Deputy Chief Estella Patterson to be apart of this radical left event and spew her personal racist hate for the white citizens of Charlotte in such a forum.

Addressing her fear of white privilege: DC Patterson says "When solving white nationalism, we need to look at the places where this exists, especially people's places of work to see some hidden or overt biases and racism people may have." 

She continued with a common thread of Antifa "You start where you are, you start in your home and your work and determine white nationalists and expose them." Stressing that "we" need to fight white nationalism on an individual level.

Chief Patterson is welcome to believe in the myth of systemic racism and white privilege all she likes. She can preach her fear of "White Nationalism" privately till it suits her. But when she represents the Charlotte Mecklenburg Police Department she represents all citizens of Charlotte not just non-white citizens.

This makes CP wonder......What crimes of White Nationalism is she speaking of? How many have there been in Charlotte? How many hate crimes committed by Proud Boys or the White Aryan Nation? If these groups are active in Charlotte why is this the first we have heard of them? 

Seriously, if the KKK held a rally in Charlotte, all of three people would show up and only if the weather was nice. The only thing even close to a white supremist hate crime in Charlotte was some fool who spray painted "ALM" and All Lives Matter" on the side of the NASCAR hall of fame building. Wait for it, and the perp caught in the act was a black guy.

In a community that is divided and fearful as Charlotte has become, that last thing we need is a public servant who feels free to spew hate filled rhetoric about racists and Nazis that creates a further fear and distrust in a system of laws and common equity.

There is no systemic racism. People like Patterson need to stop trying to shame white people and trying to illicit white guilt. So many liberals are in terror of being seen as racist. The terror that causes white Americans to act guiltily toward minorities even when they feel no guilt.  

Ironic that a person who is entrusted to uphold the law would even consider speaking publicly about "White Nationalism" from the lofty perch of Deputy Chief. 

Hands Up Don't Move - One Command Only

Anyone who has watched a few hours of COPS or PD Live has seen the chaotic and confusing scenes that unfold whenever Officers fear a suspect has a weapon. This happens countless times every day across our nation without incident.

But, sadly in the moment where a tenth of a second can mean life or death the outcome is sometimes needlessly tragic.

I've watched countless situations where the suspect is ordered out of the car, to open the door from the outside with his left hand. Of course the suspect instinctively uses his right hand. 

With sirens blaring and a K-9 Officer aggressively barking, three officers are shouting conflicting commands. Put your hands on your head, interlock your fingers, get down on the ground, don't look at me, back up towards my voice, move to the left, no move to your left. Cross your legs, get down on your stomach, put your arms out like an airplane.

Put your left foot in, take your right hand out and shake it all about - What the heck is going on? Do we really need felony stop suspects trying to follow along with the Hokey Pokey?

I'm not sure how we got this way but as Derrius Franklin showed us confusion can be deadly. 

Let's stop the madness:

Nationally we need to adopt "One Command Only" - HANDS UP DO NOT MOVE!

From that point on a compliant suspect should understand that he is safe as long as he doesn't move a centimeter. Law Enforcement needs to make if clear if you move, lower your hands or even speak you will be killed.

Officers need to take the risk with a compliant suspect and be willing to approach regardless of where the suspect is located, be it in a chair, sitting on a curb, standing, or even crouching as Franklin was beside a car. 

HANDS UP DO NOT MOVE!

The object of this One Command Only effort is two fold:

First to get the public to comply by having nationally understood command thereby eliminating countless OIS deaths.

Second to give Police Officers clear guidance and eliminate the question of was the death of the suspect necessary.

As with the old westerns where "stick em up" became the mantra of all robbers victims understood that hands go up and not to move.

We need to make it simple because the level of drug use and anger is put of control. This way if an Officer needs to end a life there will be no question. The suspect had one command only to obey and he chose to not.

Anyone care to comment?

Cedar's Take:

As the public and elected officials demand more accountability of police officers there needs to be some solid ground and a firm line drawn. The boots on the street deserve something to back them up since their judgement seems to be no longer valid. Hands Up - Do Not Move does just that. A clear unquestionable command with clear un questionable consequences if not followed. As simple as "stick em up" in Hollywood Westerns of the 1950's and 60's.

If you don't put your hands up, if you move, you will be shot dead. Period we cannot let the violent offenders dictate the situation.

CP