3 black soldiers arrested for stabbing white comrade to death 'called him a cracker
Three black soldiers arrested for stabbing white comrade to death 'called him a cracker' - so why are police now so sure it was NOT a hate crime?
- Tevin Geike, 20, was left for dead in a parking lot near his base in Lakewood, Washington, in early hours of Saturday morning
- Previously police said they believed the attack was racially motivated because attackers called Tevin a ‘cracker’ - a racist term for a white person
- But after interviews police said they no longer believed the killing was a hate crime
- All the suspects are from Joint Base Lewis-McChord and serve in the same combat infantry unit as Tevin
- Tevin’s tearful mother Jennifer Rose told MailOnline: ‘Tevin trusted everybody until they gave him a reason not to trust them. He was really kind-hearted and he would give you the shirt off your back'
By DANIEL BATES
PUBLISHED: 13:47 EST, 7 October 2013 | UPDATED: 16:37 EST, 7 October 2013
89 shares
89 View comments
Police today said the stabbing death of a white Army soldier allegedly at the hands of a group of African American comrades was not a hate crime - despite witnesses claiming they called him a 'cracker' during the confrontation.
Tevin Geike, 20, was left for dead in a parking lot near his base in Lakewood, Washington, in the early hours of Saturday morning and three soldiers have been arrested over the killing.
In the hours after the stabbing, police said they believed the attack was racially motivated because it was claimed some of the assailants - a group of five black men - called Tevin a ‘cracker’, a racist term for a white person.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...56_634x434.jpg Senseless: Tevin Geike, right, was stabbed to death after an altercation with five black men in a car at 2.30am. His father, Dean, left, also a serviceman, paid tribute to his dead son
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...08_306x423.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...76_306x423.jpg 'Cracker': Police have all but ruled out hate crime charges after interviewing the alleged attackers as Tevin's mother told MailOnline that he would never have said anything to provoke a racist attack
But Lakewood police officers today said they no longer believed the killing to be a hate crime following the arrests and speaking to everyone they believed were involved.
All the suspects are from Joint Base Lewis-McChord and served in the same combat infantry unit as Tevin.
The accused are Jeremiah Hill, 23 - the alleged murderer - Cedarium Johnson, 21; and Ajoni Runnion-Bareford, 21. Two others are still being sought.
Speaking exclusively to MailOnline, Tevin’s mother Jennifer Rose fought back the tears as she said that she had got a text from her son just hours before his death saying he was going to get a tattoo to celebrate his military graduation.
She said: ‘Tevin trusted everybody until they gave him a reason not to trust them. He was really kind-hearted and he would give you the shirt off your back.
'He absolutely loved being in the military and was looking forward to graduating. He wanted to be an oil rigger.’
Mrs Rose, 39, added, that there was ‘no way’ that Tevin would have said anything racist to provoke his killer.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...21_634x352.jpg Witness: Matthew Barnes said one of the attackers appeared to 'bump' into Tevin as he stabbed him multiple times as they were walking home to Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Saturday morning
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...95_306x423.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...35_306x423.jpg
Held: Ajoni Runnion-Bareford, 21, is one of the three soldiers held over the killing of Tevin
She said: 'I have a hard time with that (the racism) because we have some really good friends who are black and we consider them family. It may have been racial from their side but not my son'.
The attack has sparked an outpouring of emotion on Facebook with Tevin’s step-father Dean Rose writing: ‘I love you son and the world is not as good without you in it. You will be missed. RIP son’.
Tevin’s younger brother Jarod wrote: ‘I want to cry but can't all the tears are gone...feels like a nightmare just want it to end....trying to stay strong is hard when it comes to a family member especially a brother getting murdered.
More...
Biker accused of causing crash that sparked brutal beating of tech executive says HIS life is ruined
Dramatic moment Delta Force commandos seized 'Most Wanted' al-Qaeda terrorist in Libya by smashing windows of his car and dragging him into black Mercedes
Fearful of violent crime? Don't go to Tennessee, which tops the list of America's most dangerous states
‘Goodnight Tevin Anthony G love talk to you in a little bit in my dream and in the morning’.
The slaying happened when Tevin and soldier friends Matthew Barnes and Brian Johnson were walking home to Joint Base Lewis-McChord on Saturday morning.
Barnes told KIRO TV that the attackers drove past and one of them in the back shouted ‘something like white and cracker’.
Barnes said he shouted back: ‘So this is how we treat combat veterans now?’
The car turned around and came back and five men got out, surrounding the three friends.
Four then walked away but a fifth walked up to Tevin and ‘appeared to bump’ or 'bear hug' him and stabbed him multiple times.
Barnes said: ‘I was sitting there, holding my hand on his chest and then called 911 with my left, screaming at them and telling them exactly where we were and they need to hurry and hurry and hurry.
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...70_634x369.jpg Changing tune: Jeremiah Hill, a fellow soldier from the same unit as Tevin, pictured with his family, was arrested after first claiming his hand had been cut while slicing vegetables and then saying he wounded it on a parachute chord
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...47_306x423.jpg
http://i.dailymail.co.uk/i/pix/2013/...01_306x423.jpg
Discharge: Tevin had been celebrating his military graduation after serving two years in the army. His mother told MailOnline that he was looking forward to becoming an oil rig worker
‘Right before I got off the phone, I couldn’t feel a heartbeat anymore, and he was gone.’
He added that the men were ‘looking for trouble. They were looking for somebody to attack’.
Barnes said: ‘There’s a derogatory term they use for white people, and it’s cracker, and I heard that phrase repeated numerous times which is why I thought race had something to do with it.’
KOMO reported that detectives identified the suspects after another soldier came forward and said that Hill had told him he had killed somebody.
The soldier told his sergeant who spoke to Hill but he denied it and claimed he had been cutting vegetables. Then when he was taken to hospital he claimed he hurt it on a parachute cord.
Under questioning Hill refused to comment and asked for a lawyer.
Lakewood police spokesman Chris Lawler said that after speaking to everyone it did not look like race was a factor.
Tevin was originally from Junction City, Kansas, but grew up in South Carolina and graduated from Stall High School near Charleston in 2010.
He joined the Army two years ago, according to Army records, and at Joint Base Lewis-McChord he was assigned to the 4-6th Attack Reconnaissance Squadron, 16th CAB, as an aviation operations specialist.
In October 2011, he was reassigned to the 2-158th AHB.
During his service Tevin has been awarded the National Defense Service Medal, Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, Army Service Ribbon and Aviation Badge.
Tevin will be buried in Junction City, Kansas, where his family are assembling to pay tribute to him.
Also among those already doing so on Facebook was Tevin’s aunt Janinne Gregory.
She wrote: ‘He was a wonderful young man who was working hard to make a good life for himself. He didn't deserve this.’
On his own Facebook page, Tevin spoke of his love for his country - and how he would die to protect it.
He said: ‘Damn straight service members are dying everyday for our freedom and yet what thanks do they get not a damn thing. I am a soldier in the United States Army and proud of it.’
Read more:
Follow us: @MailOnline on Twitter | DailyMail on Facebook
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/arti...e-charges.html
