Staff article

EAST CLEVELAND, Ohio— Community activists, friends and family members  of the 22-year-old Black Cleveland woman who was gunned down in East Cleveland on Sun, July 9 will hold a rally and prayer vigil for justice for the woman at 5 pm on Tuesday, July 18 at 1885 North Taylor Road where the fatal shooting occurred.

Thomasha Ussery  (pictured)22, was beaten and shot and killed early last Sunday morning following an alleged fight in East Cleveland, a small majority Black and impoverished Cleveland suburb where crime, poverty and police malfeasance are rampant. Her mother, Bertha Ussery, is among the speakers at today's vigil, organizers said, as are women's rights activists, and  the community in general.

"These heinous crimes against Black women of Cleveland have got to stop and instead of solutions, all we get from Black and other leaders on this issue are small talk, infighting, and grandstanding," said activist and organizer Kathy Wray Coleman, who leads Imperial Women Coalition, which was founded around the murders of 11 Black women on Imperial Avenue on Cleveland's largely Black east side by the late serial killer Anthony Sowell.

Coleman said that "while data repeatedly show that the murders of Black women in Cleveland and some other largely Black major American cities have increased since the pandemic nothing substantive is being done to address a clear epidemic in the Black community:"  She added that "activists and the victim's family members want the persons who beat and killed Thomasha Ussery or otherwise contributed to her murder brought to justice, and quickly."

Police were called to the 1800 block of Taylor Road around 4:40 a.m on July 9 following reports of someone shot. Upon arrival a 22-year-old woman was found unresponsive and sent to University Hospitals, where she later died, police said.

The victim was later identified as Thomasha Ussery by the Cuyahoga County Medical Examiner’s Office and the murder, one of several in the last couple of years of Black Cleveland women, has upset community activists.East Cleveland Police announced last Wednesday that 24-year-old Ameila Patrice Jackson has been arrested and charged with aggravated murder in Ussery’s death.

Clevelandurbannews.com and Kathywraycolemanonlinenewsblog.com, the most read Black digital newspaper and Black blog in Ohio and in the Midwest. Tel: (216) 659-0473. Email: editor@clevelandurbannews.com. We interviewed former president Barack Obama one-on-one when he was campaigning for president. As to the Obama interview, CLICK HERE TO READ THE ENTIRE ARTICLE AT CLEVELAND URBAN NEWS.COM, OHIO'S LEADER IN BLACK DIGITAL NEWS.