In Barbara Stephenson's apartment, her children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren smile at her from pictures on the walls. Some of those smiles belong to her youngest son, Isaiah Brooks.
It's a smile that brings happiness for the good times she shared with her son and sadness for the fact that he is no longer alive. Five years ago this month, Isaiah, a 13-year-old student at East Forsyth Middle School, was shot to death. No one has been charged, leaving his family with more questions than answers.
"He was my baby, and I just had to lean on God to get me through this," she said recently.
His family and other community members are trying to keep his memory alive. They are holding the Isaiah DeJohn Brooks Memorial Book Fair from 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. today at LaDeara Crest Community Center at 2531 LaDeara Crest Lane. The idea for a book fair came about because Isaiah loved to read. His favorite book was "Salt in His Shoes" about basketball player Michael Jordan.
"This little fella, our heart went out to him because it seems so unreal that a child would be murdered," said Delores Huntley, a co-director of Vigils of Healing, one of the groups that helped organize the event.
Vigils for Healing, Alpha and Omega Church of Faith, LaDeara Crest Community Center, Mount Sinai Full Gospel Deliverance Center and the community resources class at Winston-Salem State University worked to collect nearly 1,000 books that will be given away at the book fair. Many of the books are for children 13 and younger, but the fair also will have books for older children, organizers said.
Pat "Mardia" Stepney, a storyteller from Winston-Salem, will perform. The Alpha and Omega Church of Faith has sponsored an Isaiah Brooks Adopt-A-Street sign that stands at the corner of 25th and Machine streets.
The LaDeara Community Center is only a few blocks from where Isaiah was killed.
On Feb. 9, 2006, Isaiah came home from school, changed clothes and went back outside. Later that day, Stephenson called for her son, but he never answered, which was unusual. She called around to some of his brothers and sisters. No one had seen him.
At 6:45 p.m. that day, Winston-Salem police were called to 2512 Machine St., less than a quarter-mile from where Isaiah lived, and found Isaiah in the driveway. He had been shot in the face. He was taken by ambulance to Wake Forest University Baptist Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead.
The house had been broken into and ransacked. Police took a box of ammunition and 13 rounds of various calibers from the house, according to a search warrant.
Tawanda Fulwood, one of his sisters, regularly calls the Winston-Salem police for updates on her brother's case.
"I'm hoping this book fair could bring back the awareness that a teenage child was murdered in that area," she said.
Fulwood said Isaiah's family wants answers to why Isaiah was killed.
Capt. David Clayton, the head of the Police Department's criminal investigations unit, said the case is still open and is a featured investigation in the department's cold-case unit.
"We are looking at everything," Clayton said. "We've been able to send some things to the state (crime) lab, but we have not received anything back that would provide any leads on a possible suspect."
Police also have not heard from anyone who may have seen the shooting. Crime Stoppers is offering $2,000 for any information leading to an arrest, Clayton said.
He said the book fair may prompt someone to come forward with information.
"All of us are saddened that a 13-year-old boy was killed, and anything the community does, such as book fairs, helps get this information out there," Clayton said.
Stephenson is still struggling with her son's death.
A year after Isaiah died, she moved out of the LaDeara Crest neighborhood, partly because she couldn't stand looking out the back window to the park where Isaiah last played.
Stephenson said she hopes the book fair will lead to someone coming forward with answers in her son's death.
"Someone will step up and let us know who did this to Isaiah," she said.
mhewlett@wsjournal.com
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