“Dear Mr. Edmonds,” the letter begins. “Our class wrote these letters to show we really do care and if we were those girls we would run and help u not laugh. From Mikaela, the person who cares.”
The letters and cards — 20 in all — came from the fifth-grade class at City Neighbors Charter School to Marvin Edmonds, 45, the customer shot inside a Northeast Baltimore carryout while two female onlookers laughed and six or seven people “stepped around” him to order food. The cards were mailed to this reporter and will be delivered to Edmonds.
“It’s a blessing to me,” Edmonds said Friday. “My horoscope told me, something is coming to make you feel better — and this made me feel good.”
Edmonds said he has lived in almost constant fear since the Aug. 6 attack. He is taking six different prescriptions for pain and depression.
“I’m so sorry this happened to you,” another letter begins. “I know I would feel the same way and I would be scared to leave my house. Don’t feel bad there’s still some decent people in the world. Hope you feel better soon. Love, Talia.”
The shooting occurred Aug. 6 at 12:12 a.m., shortly after Edmonds entered the Chinese Cuisine carryout on Harford Road in Northeast Baltimore, according to charging documents.
Two males entered the store with bandanas covering parts of their faces. They rummaged through Edmonds’ pockets, held guns pointed at his head and then both shot at him, striking him once in the left knee.
Darren Brown, of the 3300 block of Ellerslie Avenue, and David Jefferson, of the 2700 block of Tivoly Avenue, both 17, were charged as adults with first-degree attempted murder — a charge that carries a maximum penalty of life in prison.
Edmonds said he was disturbed to see surveillance video, obtained by The Examiner, of the attack, during which two girls smile and laugh as he’s being robbed. But he added that the letters and cards — adorned with colorful drawings — have shown a better side of the city’s youth.
“Someone out there cares enough about me as I try to recover,” he said.
