This robbery case is so disturbing on so many levels that I am at a loss for words as to why three young black women found it necessary to engage in such a heinous act. April Pierce, 19, and Erica Belgrave, 20 and Ivana Pittman, 18, are complicit in the shooting of 62-year-old cabbie Enois Malbranche in Bedford-Stuyvesant, Brooklyn. This was a senseless shooting of a man old enough to be their grandfather. According to the NY Daily News, the heartless woman who pumped a bullet into the head of Malbranche was more upset that she got nothing from her victim than about leaving him for dead, suspect Ivana Pittman revealed. “She kept saying, ‘Damn! Didn’t get any money! Damn!'” said Pittman, who is expected to turn herself in to police Thursday.
“It was disgusting. Somebody’s just been hurt, could have died for all we know. All you thinking about was the little bit of money he had. That’s somebody’s father, grandfather. That could have been mine. He didn’t deserve this,” she said. Funny, this is a fine time to suddenly realize you have a conscience, when the long arm of the law is breathing down your back. “I’m just so sorry for Mr. Malbranche,” said Pittman, who lives blocks from the crime scene. “I tried to stop it.”
Accoring to Mr. Malbranche’s family, he was hit in the face in the 6:30 a.m. holdup and is now blind in his right eye. “The damage is already done. They can apologize as many times as they want,” said the cabbie’s eldest son, Michelet Malbranche. “I’m still upset. They should have known before what would happen if they used a gun. They don’t care.”
The other two young women in the cab, April Pierce and Erica Belgrave have been arraigned on charges of attempted murder, robbery and criminal use of a firearm. Both are being held on $50,000 bail. If you ask me, their bond should be much larger and I hope they rot in prison for what they did to this man, who was guilty of nothing other than working for a living.Pierce allegedly told cops that the trio set out to rob Malbranche of their $6 fare and his earnings, but claimed another girl shot him when he chased them out of the cab.
It seems that many of our young people are heading down a road of total self-destruction. What would lead these three young women to engage in a life of crime is beyond me, but what I do believe is that they should be taken off the streets so that they will not harm other innocent people. Surely there is a better path to choose than a life of crime and total self-destruction.
Filed under: April Pierce, Enois Malbranche, Erica Belgrave, Ivana Pittman
Black Political Thought 