The Violence Must End A Memorial to Meleia Willis-Starbuck

MELEIA

2006-06-14T22:33:00.000-07:00

MELEIA
Originally uploaded by Greatwork.

Created with fd's Flickr Toys.

Revisiting a victim of violence - The Meleia Tradgedy
1. Meleia - 15, 2. LightShine, 3. Meleia-2 - 29, 4. Meleia-2 - 28

Hollis' attorney to avoid a trial

2006-04-17T08:00:00.000-07:00

Defense attorney John Burris, representing the accused murderer of Meleia Willis-Starbuck '07, said on April 13 that he will not take the case to trial as previously expected. This move could be a precursor to his client, Christopher Hollis, changing his plea of not guilty.

Read More in Dartmouth Online

Berkeley slay suspect will be tried

2006-02-11T08:40:00.000-08:00

OAKLAND -- A judge Friday ordered Christopher Hollis to stand trial for the murder of Dartmouth College student Meleia Willis- Starbuck, whom Hollis affectionately called "my sister."

Wearing red jail clothing and sitting next to his attorney, John Burris, Hollis, 22, of Hayward did not react when Judge Carlos Ynostroza announced there is enough evidence to hold a murder trial.

Read More from the Oakland Tribune

Driver in Shooting Takes Plea Deal

2006-02-10T08:15:00.000-08:00

OAKLAND-The Berkeley man charged with murder in connection with the July shooting death of a Dartmouth College student agreed yesterday to testify in hearings for the suspected gunman in exchange for a lesser charge.

During a preliminary hearing continued from last week, court officials announced that attorneys had agreed on a plea bargain for 20-year-old Christopher Larry Wilson Jr., who originally faced two charges in connection with 19-year-old Meleia Willis-Starbuck's July 17 death.

Read More in the Daily Californian

Suspect in Student's Death Makes Plea Deal

2006-02-10T07:48:00.000-08:00

OAKLAND, Calif. (AP) - A suspect in the shooting death of a high school friend pleaded no contest to being an accessory to murder, then testified that another friend pulled the trigger, attorneys said.

Christopher Wilson Jr., 21, of Berkeley, entered his plea Thursday in Alameda County Superior Court. As part of a deal with prosecutors, Wilson agreed to testify against Christopher Hollis, who is charged with murdering Meleia Willis-Starbuck, said prosecutor Carrie Panetta.

Read More fro, Lancaster Online

Man testifies against friend in shooting case

2006-02-10T07:25:00.000-08:00

The case of two men accused in the shooting death of a Dartmouth College student in Berkeley last summer took a stunning turn Thursday when one of the men admitted he drove the getaway car and fingered the other for firing the fatal shot.

Christopher Wilson, 21, entered a surprise no-contest plea to a charge of accessory to murder in the July 17 shooting of Meleia Willis-Starbuck near UC Berkeley.

Read More in the Contra Costa Times

Witness: Willis-Starbuck 'Amped' Before Shooting

2006-02-03T08:22:00.000-08:00

A University of California, Berkeley football player testified today that Dartmouth College student Meleia Willis-Starbuck "sounded a little amped-up" just before she was shot to death in Berkeley in the early morning hours last July 17.

Read More in CBS5.com

Mitchell testifies in Willis-Starbuck case

2006-02-01T08:01:00.000-08:00

Gregory Mitchell, a key witness in the Meleia Willis-Starbuck '07 shooting case, testified yesterday, but failed to contribute any significant new information to the case.

Granted immunity by the prosecution, Mitchell offered his version of the July 17 events during preliminary hearings on Jan. 26 and 31 and explained that he was drunk and asleep in the passenger's seat in the moments before Christopher Hollis allegedly shot Willis-Starbuck from the moving vehicle.

As Reported inThe Dartmouth

Key Starbuck slaying witness says little

2006-01-31T08:00:00.000-08:00

OAKLAND - A potentially crucial witness to the mysterious fatal shooting of Meleia Willis-Starbuck in Berkeley offered little insight this morning, asserting he was with the two men charged with the slaying but was asleep when the gunfire rang out.

"I remember waking up and I remember asking if that was fireworks," said Gregory Mitchell, 21, who said he was drunk and asleep in the passenger seat of a car in the moments leading up to the July 17, 2005, shooting.

Read More in the Contra Costa Times

Updates

2005-12-14T22:58:00.000-08:00

SF Gate
BERKELEY
November 6, 2005
Slaying suspect talks about his dead friend.
He says he wishes he could trade places with victim.

North Gate News Online
BERKELEY
October 5, 2005
After a lengthy delay in court today, Christopher Hollis pleaded not guilty to the murder of his high school friend Meleia Willis-Starbuck the 19 year-old Dartmouth freshman who was fatally shot outside her apartment on College Ave. near the UC Berkeley campus.

Berkeley Daily Planet
BERKELEY, CA
September 30, 2005
Attorney Says Hollis Didn’t Mean to Kill Anyone
While not conceding that Christopher Hollis fired the bullet that killed his friend and former Berkeley High School classmate Meleia Willis-Starbuck, his attorney John Burris said the 21-year-old Berkeley native had confirmed earlier press accounts of the shooting.

SF Gate
BERKELEY, CA
September 27, 2005
Victim argued with Cal players
Football team member grazed with bullet during shooting incident

"Police believe the woman slain on July 17, Meleia Willis-Starbuck, called a close friend on a cell phone during the argument to ask for help. That friend, 22-year-old Christopher Hollis, allegedly arrived with a gun and opened fire from a half-block away - inadvertently striking Willis-Starbuck in the chest.

Berkeley Daily Planet
FRESNO, CA
September 27, 2005
Fresno Police Chase Down Suspect in BHS Grad Murder
The suspected shooter in the July 17 killing of Meleia Willis-Starbuck was captured in a Fresno apartment Friday as he hid in a bedroom closet.

Berkeley Police
FRESNO, CA
September 24, 2005
Second Suspect in Willis-Starbuck
Homicide Arrested

Hollis Photo Berkeley, California On Friday September 23rd, Fresno Police Arrested Christopher Hollis on a Berkeley Homicide Warrant.

CAS | NEWS
BERKELEY, CA

August 4 , 2005

Below are two announcements. The first has to do with the availability of counseling and therapy for those who need to process their feelings. The second is about a fantastic fundraiser to raise money for the scholarship in memory of Meleia.

SF Gate
BERKELEY, CA
July 22, 2005
Close-knit friendship, mysterious tragedy. Questions abound over circumstances in Berkeley slaying

In Testimony, Witness Recalls Night of Shooting

2005-09-27T08:11:00.000-07:00

Attorneys resumed questioning a friend of the two men charged in the July shooting death of former Berkeley resident Meleia Willis-Starbuck on the third day of pretrial hearings yesterday.

Read More From the Daily Californian

One Month Aniversary of Memorial Service

2005-08-22T22:22:00.000-07:00

No society that feeds its children on tales of successful violence can expect them not to believe that violence in the end is rewarded.
-Margaret Mead, anthropologist (1901-1978)

At the scene of an accident
we can’t help but crane our necks

8/22/2005
One Month Aniversary of Memorial Service

we are here again
a month ago to the day 7/22/2005
a memorial was held in Berkeley California
for a murder victim Meleia Willis-Starbuck
some say the victim of an accidental bullet

and we hear it all again
the sound of soft sobbing

drifts across the gym
the banners line the walls
victories that date back
before I went here
in the tumultuous sixties

yellow and red
the yellow jackets

a cartoon figure
like David
small but able

Outside of Berkeley's only high school
carved in bas-relief
"you shall know the truth
the truth shall make you free"

inside speaker after speaker
smiles then looks to heaven
choking on a salty tear
so senseless
evil lurks everywhere
its misshapen head
vaulting above the ordinary
I look toward a spot in the
ceiling and a light throwing a pattern
tilting my head back
I press the shutter
hoping no one notices a tear
escape and flow down my chin

One month later the prime suspect remains at large. The family continues to urge him to turn himself in to prevent further needless violence

S T O P
T H E
V I O L E N C E

BIRD

Poem Copyright
© 2005 Frederick D. Perry, All Rights Reserved

More Pictures at the memorial set:

Ghosts

2005-07-23T20:05:00.000-07:00

Meleia Signs

2005-07-23T11:32:00.000-07:00

The outpouring of love can be seen in the signs posted on the make shift memorial.

Meleia-2 - 41
Originally uploaded by Greatwork.

Memorial

2005-07-23T11:13:00.000-07:00

originally uploaded by Greatwork. Click HERE or on the image abobe to see more photos.

No society that feeds its children on tales of successful violence can expect them not to believe that violence in the end is rewarded.
-Margaret Mead, anthropologist (1901-1978)

We were on our way thorough
Berkeley to get some desert
when we saw some candles
and posters on the street
stopping we were transported back

It is 1:30 in the morning
the morning of July 17, 2005....
A Bay Area chill in the air
A car full of
young men
has approached some
young women
and tried to hit on them
tried to talk to them
tried to get next to them
but the women weren’t
having It
backing off of it
then the “B” word hit
the fan and
the “N” word went around
and then the terror
started going down
three shots rent the air
flying to the mark
and then most likely
to succeed dropped
gasping to her knees
home for the summer
from Dartmouth
by the doorstep of her house
hold on her partners said
but she was already dead
1:45 a.m. on a Berkeley
street corner at College and Haste
19 years old
senseless stupid violence
shattering lives
in one razor sharp instant of time
1:45 A.M. July 17, 2005
a lioness
a protector
a dreamer of dreams

A sign tacked to the
Phone pole:

You were going to
Do so many things –
So short your time – so
Beautiful your example
I miss you I love you

MELEIA was 19 year old
and by all accounts a superstar....

___________________________________

Some links about these photos:

From: KRON Ivy League Student Shot in Berkeley

From: Cal Stuff 1 Arrest in Shooting, 1 Suspect at Large

From" The Daily Review Berkeley slaying remains a mystery
Killing of Dartmouth student has friends, community in disbelief

From: Ellipsis "In violence we forget who we are.""In violence we forget who we are."

From: The Dartmouth OnLine 'Tragic death' sends ripples through College community

From: The Bereley Daily Planet Friends Mourn Slain Berkeley Teenager