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| Friends recall man shot at Stroud picnic |
| By Andrew Scott |
| Published: 04/28/2009 |
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Imagine trying to put one tragedy behind and move on, only to be confronted with another. Retired New York corrections officer Barry Rose's loved ones suffered after losing him in August 2007, when three men illegally entered his Bushkill home to steal guns and fatally shot him. With the last of those three men being convicted Thursday, Rose's loved ones thought they could finally get past the horror of his murder and move on to the good memories. On Saturday, Valerie Henry Rose, who would have been Barry Rose's second wife and legally took his last name after his death, invited family and friends to a picnic at her East Shore Drive home in Blue Mountain Lake, Stroud Township, to celebrate the last of Barry's killers being brought to justice. That celebration was short-lived. Valerie Rose's son, Jerel Johnson, 23, who was living with her, and guest Mingo Lee, 51, of Jackson Township, who was Barry Rose's close friend, got into an argument about the murder case, according to what Stroud Area Regional Police said Johnson told them. Investigators have not said what about the case caused the men to argue, only that it involved Lee calling Johnson foul names and punching him in the face multiple times. Johnson went upstairs to his bedroom, got a handgun from under his pillow and came back downstairs, according to what police said he told them. Johnson ordered Lee to get on the ground. Lee refused to do so and twice more punched Johnson, at which point Johnson shot him twice in the chest and then six more times after Lee went down, police said. Lee was taken to Pocono Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead. Johnson is now in Monroe County Correctional Facility without bail, awaiting a future district court preliminary hearing on murder charges. Lee, Barry Rose and several others worked together as corrections officers, first at Riker's Island Penitentiary in New York City and later in the Bronx, N.Y., court system, from which they all retired. It remains to be seen if the true reason for the fatal argument between Lee and Johnson will ever come to light, but it's clear that Rose was very important in both men's lives, according to those who have known all three. A reader's comment posted on the Pocono Record forum says Johnson, a U.S. Army veteran, has suffered the emotional pain of losing Rose. Likewise, those who worked with both Lee and Rose said the two were such close friends to the point where Lee would get upset if he heard anyone saying negative things about Rose. Read more. If link has expired, check the website of the article's original news source. |
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