iPod worth more than human life among kids in Brooklyn

By JENNIFER MEDINA and MATTHEW SWEENEY
Published: July 4, 2005
Two Brooklyn teenagers were arrested early yesterday on charges that they robbed and killed a 15-year-old boy in the Farragut neighborhood when they stole his friend's iPod, the police said.
The victim, Christopher Rose, was walking with three other boys late Saturday afternoon when a large group of teenagers approached them and demanded that they turn over the iPod that one of the boys was carrying, according to the police and witnesses. When the boys refused, one of the suspects began hitting them, said Kenneth, 15, who was with Christopher at the time of the attack. Then someone stabbed Christopher twice in the chest.



Christopher Rose was killed on Saturday during a dispute over an iPod.

Law enforcement officials have warned in recent months that iPods have prompted an increase in thefts on the subways, and that teenagers are particularly vulnerable targets of iPod thefts by other teenagers.
The police said yesterday that they had charged Darran Samuel, 16, and Daryl Stephen, 17, with murder, robbery and criminal possession of a weapon in connection with Christopher's death. Relatives of both boys, reached at their homes in Brooklyn, said the youths had no history of violence.
"Maybe they were the two who didn't run fast enough," said Daryl's aunt, who declined to give her name.
A man who described himself as an uncle of Darran's, but who also declined to give his name, described the youth as "weak and frail."
"There is no possible way he could have committed the crime of murder," he said, but added, "maybe in bad company and not good judgment."
Police officials said that they were still searching for other suspects, and that they had not yet recovered the iPod.
Christopher attended school in Bushkill, Pa., where his parents said they had sent him with the hope that he might be safer and receive a better education.
"We sent him out there to get away from this horrible life," Christopher's father, Errol Rose, said yesterday. "All these years - seven and a half years - I've been back and forth from Pennsylvania with this boy. He didn't last too long before they rubbed him out."
Christopher and his friends were on their way to the Port Authority Bus Terminal to catch a bus back to Pennsylvania on Saturday when they were attacked. Usually, someone would drive him to the subway or take him to the bus terminal, Mr. Rose said. But since he and his wife were attending a wedding, Mr. Rose said he gave Christopher permission to head back on his own. It was one of the few times the Roses had allowed Christopher to walk around the neighborhood alone.
Just before Christopher left his family's home, his father called to give him clear instructions.
Mr. Rose said that Christopher and three friends - had planned to take the subway to the bus terminal, where they would catch a bus to Pennsylvania, arriving in time to watch a fireworks display. Traveling with Christopher were Kenneth and two brothers, Richard, 15, and Jonathan, 11, whose mother asked that their last name be withheld.
"Don't talk to strangers; if you need to talk to anybody, talk to someone in uniform," Mr. Rose recalled saying. He called Christopher back to emphasize his point. "Did you hear what I said?" he asked.
Christopher was stabbed to death just a few minutes later on 40th Street near Avenue D, a block and a half from his home.
Several teenagers approached Christopher and his three friends just after they began walking on Avenue D. Richard was showing Kenneth his iPod when one of the older boys approached them and demanded it, Kenneth said. Richard handed the iPod to Jonathan before turning back toward the Rose home. Several teenagers in another group, some riding bikes, began approaching them.
"There were like 15 or 20 of them, and there were more coming," Kenneth said yesterday. He spoke in front of the Rose family home with his back facing the news cameras, hiding his swollen and bruised right eye. "We were trying to get away."
Kenneth said that when he turned around to check on his friends, Christopher and Richard were fighting more than a dozen boys. The suspects then took the iPod, Kenneth's cellphone and Christopher's sneakers before running off.
At some point during the fight, Christopher was stabbed twice in the chest, and fell to the ground. "I can't think," Kenneth said. "Me and him were like brothers."
"I'm mad I can't do anything about it," he added.
The two were so close that their mothers were hesitant to separate them for the summer, so Kenneth, whose family lives in Pennsylvania, had planned to live with the Rose family in Brooklyn. The two were to help Christopher's mother at a social service agency for disabled children in East New York where she works, family members said.
Christopher had three older sisters. During the school year, he often returned to New York for weekends and holidays, his parents said. He spent a lot of time at the Brooklyn Tabernacle church, where he played basketball and participated in a youth group.
Family and friends poured into the Rose home yesterday, many coming from the church. They gathered inside the family's two-story home, some praying and some crying.
Many said Christopher was shy. A recent report card suggested that he speak up more in class.
"My husband was afraid the city was too rough for him," Sharon Rose, Christopher's mother, said. "Should I have stayed home yesterday? Should he have stayed down there for the summer? All kind of choices pop into your head."