The Palms Apartments:"It's not a normal place to live,"

Palms Apartments - 'a lot of shooting, killing, fighting'
Vincent Bradshaw and Willoughby Mariano | Sentinel Staff Writers
August 2, 2008
Soon after a triple slaying shocked The Palms Apartments, it looked as if nothing had happened.

Children returned to its playground, a haven of color in a bare courtyard of dry grass and concrete. Mothers chatted in the breezeways about their typical worries.

They feared their children would be shot, and they'd be murdered if they spoke against the violence. They complained of units ridden with mold, broken AC units and toilets that never get fixed.

Everyday life in The Palms requires getting used to overwhelming problems and regular tragedy. Nequan Harris, 23, a mother of three, has lived there for four years. She does not let her children play outdoors.

"It's not a normal place to live," Harris said.

Since January 2007, seven people have been killed at the apartment complex and the surrounding Mercy Drive neighborhood.

Carlos Patterson, 16; Cedric Garrett Jr., 18; and Marcus Hayes, 29; were gunned down Wednesday near the playground. Reginald Jerod Scott, 32, was found dying of a gunshot wound in a nearby parking lot July 4. Police announced an arrest Friday in the triple slaying, but the other killing remains unsolved.

The killings were the latest in a string of crimes and other problems that have troubled the complex since it was built in the early 1970s. By 1980, the units were in disrepair, and the city still receives complaints about conditions there.

click post title for more