Family mourns slain tot as Chester extends emergency curfew

Caskets should not have to be made so tiny. A child should never lie so still.

But there 2-year-old Terrence Webster was yesterday, surrounded by white silk with a blue hat covering his tiny head, where a bullet struck him June 13.

As mourners poured into the White Rock Christian Church in Chester for Terrence's funeral, citizens flooded City Hall half a mile away to comment on City Council's unanimous decision to extend the city's state of emergency another 30 days.

Terrence, known to his loved ones as "Pop," was the second of four homicide victims in Chester between June 11 and June 19.

He was killed when his family was ambushed by a gunman as they arrived home. No arrests have been made in the case.

As mourners walked by the casket, "Heal the World" played over and over on the sound system.

An elderly woman stood in the pews and mouthed the words. She shook her head each time the line "There are people dying" came around.

Robin Powell, Terrence's grandmother, screamed. His mother, Tisheta Green, sobbed. His father, Thomas Webster, held tight to Terrence's older brother, who is 4.

LaDonna Willis, Terrence's godmother, called him a "heart-snatcher" and a "self-soother."

"If you knew Pop, the first thing he'd always say is, 'Have some?' " Willis said.

"It didn't matter if it was a juice box . . . or a plastic bag."

The many ministers who spoke sought to heal the broken hearts of the family with their words, but they spoke just as much about healing a broken city.

"We come this morning to say we really shouldn't be here," said the Rev. William Rocky Brown III, a Chester police chaplain and assistant pastor at Bethany Baptist Church in Chester.

White Rock pastor Edward Lilly asked the family not to seek retribution.

" 'Vengeance is mine,' said the Lord," Lilly said. "It would have been better if that person hadn't been born that took that life . . . but God's got this all under control . . . and he's not going to let this go."

The state of emergency had been declared Saturday by Mayor Wendell Butler Jr. The proclamation prohibits anyone from being on streets or public places "without a legitimate reason" from 9 p.m. to 6 a.m. in five sections of the city.

Although there have been no homicides since the proclamation took effect, Council heard 2 1/2 hours of input from residents who either opposed or supported the extension.

"I feel as though we're intruding on the civil rights of 35,000 people," said resident Bill Reilly. "We can't lock people down every time we can't control the situation."

But others lauded Butler for taking a hard line on the city's street thugs.

"You talk about being 'held hostage' by the state of emergency, but our children are being held hostage by these criminals," said Helen Summers, whose 19-year-old son was slain in Chester last year.

"Until you're in my shoes," Summers said, "you won't understand where we're coming from."