Has anyone said what the killers motive was, if any?

Othniel Askew's motive has not been determined as of yet, but there's a general consensus that he may have been mentally disturbed, to say the least. :(

James's brother, Geoffrey was on Good Day New York this morning talking about his brother's death. From what I gathered, Geoffrey is probably more than willing to follow in the footsteps of his older brother.

No funeral arrangements have been made. James's body is still in the hospital morgue.

I'm still having a difficult time coming to grips with the fact that yet another young and great African-American male leader was cut down so soon. :( :(

There is a lot of speculation all over the news. One source said Davis was going to expose Askew's gay life style and HIV status. A search of Askew's apartment found HIV and anti-depressant drugs.

It was also reporteed that Askew was trying to get Davis to sign some contract stating that Askew would become Councilman if Davis died in office. :eek: Hello???

So much drama coming to the surface.

Yeah, I did hear about his HIV status, but didn't know about the anti-depressants. He prolly needed some anti-psychotic medication to go along with the others. Did you see that fool on the cover of today's paper (I think it was the Daily News)??? It looks like he was trying to be a model or something in the past. :eek: The pose looked kinda creepy. The TV news also showed Askew's house, and one of his neighbors said that Askew would be up late at night, around 2:30 making repairs to the house (why was he making repairs to the outside of the house at an ungodly hour???? :eek: ). The outside of his home has been taped off by the NYPD.

I think he was set up by the authorities. :o Why? Because Askew called the FBI earlier that day. Probably to let them know that everything was going as planned.:rolleyes:
The only reason I say this is because Askew was suppose to be running for city council but he did not raise any money. He had no supporters. On the night of the shooting, 1 of Askew's neighbors said, in the past, Askew was always wild and had a reputation of being crazy in the neighborhood. She said she grow up with him and was not surprised at all. He could not have competed against Davis if he tried.

I did not hear Askew had HIV but I heared he had his will sitting out on the table when the police searched his house.

Davis' body arrived at City Hall at noon today.

He represented my district in Brooklyn and he always voted for the people. I can't find his voting record but...

Davis asked Toys "R" Us to stop selling toy guns because 2 children in the New York area were shot, 1 killed, by police officers :mad: who thought that the toy guns were real.

That same month, he asked MTV to stop playing violent video's between the hours of 6am & 11pm.

The councilman wrote: "Too many youths graduate from juvenile detention centers, go on to jail, then go to prison upstate. We have to stop that cycle. Something is wrong when a detention center fails to rehabilitate but instead leads a youth into a permanent life of crime.

Mayor Bloomberg has put $64.5 million in the budget to expand detention centers. I feel the money should not go into detention, but into prevention." (James Davis March 22, 2002)

He fought the last fare hike that NYers are currently paying. $2 one way is the current fare. $7 for an all day pass. It's outrageous. He fought to keep the token booth clerks. He felt that they were the eyes and ears of the train system. As a former Transit Policeman he would know.

He even visited my church once. Holy Trinity Baptist Church. He was a good man. I wonder who will replace him.:( :confused:

I went over to City Hall this afternoon to pay my respects. His brother Geoffrey said hello to everyone and thanked us for giving his family support in their time of bereavement. Although I saw Councilman Davis laying in the casket, I still can't believe that he is gone from us. :( :(

I wanted to see him and pay my respects too. I heard he was at the House of Hills on Sterling St. and Rogers from 1pm to 9pm yesterday. Not when I went. The news said thousands attended. I'm glad you got to go.

Actually, he was at the St. John's/Brooklyn Avenue House of Hills location. They had the street closed off to traffic. On my way home from church I saw a block full of people lined up to go inside to pay their respects. If you read today's Daily News, there should be a picture of him laying in the casket w/ Mayor Bloomberg viewing him.

I did not like that graphic picture in today's Daily News.

http://www.nydailynews.com/front/sto...0p-94746c.html


For some reason it did not seem like House of Hills better work. I decided against going to City Hall yesterday, but I am glad so many paid their respects.

NYC COUNCILMAN SHOOTER ... Friend or foe?


(Jul. 28, 2003) Just a day after NYC (Brooklyn) Councilman James Davis was gunned down at City Hall last week, two different stories surfaced about the attacker, 31-year-old Othniel Askew. Some called Askew a political rival, while others described the man as a Davis protégé.
Askew on the other hand, painted a different picture of Davis is his statements to the FBI hours before the shooting. He told the FBI that Davis offered him $45,000 to give up a primary election challenge and threatened to hurt his family if he did not. Askew also rambled, as investigators described, something about Davis exposing him as gay, offering him $15,000 a year for a no-show staff job, and selling him a downtown building for $1.

At this point, no one has corroborated Askew’s claims.

Askew showed up at Davis’ offices in Brooklyn last Wednesday, as he often had, and asked Davis if they could go to City Hall together. Davis agreed and the two were waved past metal detectors when entering the building.

Members of Davis' staff say the councilman considered himself a mentor to the 31-year-old Askew. They said there was no indication in the final weeks of Davis' life that there was bad blood between the two.

Davis' funeral is scheduled for Tuesday in Brooklyn. His body will lie in state at City Hall this afternoon.



http://www.eurweb.com//images/072820...niel_askew.jpg

Othniel Askew was interviewed by New York TV station WCBS just days before he shot and killed NYC/Brooklyn Councilman James Davis

Village Voice on "Neil" Askew
 

http://villagevoice.com/issues/0331/goldstein.php

Also features a picture of him:

http://images.villagevoice.com/issue.../goldstein.jpg