Young man killed in Oakland known for work ethic, high hopes
Sean Maher
Oakland Tribune
Article Last Updated: 08/18/2008 05:19:13 PM PDT
OAKLAND — Deandre Walker, shot and killed Sunday while he walked to a memorial for a slain friend, was remembered by mentors Monday as a sweet and determined man working to pull himself out of a hard Oakland life.
"He was one I thought made it out of here," said Frank Knight, who had been Walker's basketball coach at Fremont High School. "He cut his dreads off because he didn't want to get in all this madness. He moved out of Oakland to Hayward to try to make it."
Knight said Walker, 23, was one of his favorite players and the news of his death was devastating.
"I saw him (a few weeks) ago at the Junior Olympics in Laney," Knight said. "He seemed so optimistic about life, working two jobs. He was enrolled at Chabot College, taking some classes. I really thought we had helped another one get out.
"The nickname for him on the team was The Truth, because he'd never lie to anybody. He'd tell you the truth even if he was totally, totally wrong," Knight said. "If he missed a practice, he'd tell me, 'Coach, I was up late last night and I was tired.'"
In addition to a warehouse job, Walker worked six years at Oakland's Office of Parks and Recreation, according to Melvin Landry, Walker's supervisor there.
"He was a real focused individual," Landry said. "A lot of young guys his age are not too focused, but he was focused on work and going on with regular day-to-day life."
Landry said Walker picked up the slack anywhere
the sports unit needed help, from refereeing to coaching, from basketball to track and field.
"If you realize you need two jobs to survive, that's a lot for you at 23 years old," Landry said. "A lot of people take one job or don't work at all at that age. He was trying to do the right thing to make a positive impact on himself."
Walker was shot shortly after midnight Sunday morning in the 5600 block of Fleming Avenue, a residential area near Mills College where such violence is rare. He had been attending a memorial for a 17-year-old friend killed two years ago.
Knight added, "Hopefully his death was not in vain. And we can generate some buzz and get kids to see it's not like a video game; you don't get to get another man. We hear about deaths all the time, and sometimes it's like, 'That's sad, but we knew the life they were living, they were out there.' But Deandre wasn't like that. He was actually trying to do the right thing."
