Willowbrook mom speaks out after son shot over Air Jordan shoes

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With the release of limited edition Air Jordan tennis shoes on Dec. 21, 2012, tragedy struck Dazie Williams’ family.

Her son, Joshua Woods, and a friend had waited in line all morning at Willowbrook Mall to snag a few pairs of the Air Jordan Bred 11 sneakers. But high consumer demand and short supply of the shoes spelled trouble for the two. After leaving the mall, Woods was followed home and fatally shot for his shoes while his friend managed to escape to a neighbor’s home.

“It hurt me greatly knowing that he had been killed over shoes,” said Williams. “But it’s nothing new. This has been going on since the 80s.”
The year of Woods’ death, Nike produced an estimated half a million pairs of Air Jordans sold in malls throughout the country. Selling out in minutes, the $185 sneakers can now only be found at marked up prices from individual sellers on Craigslist, eBay and other classified listings.

In the end, three teen suspects were arrested and charged in Woods’ murder, Neal Bland, 18, Anthony Quinn Wade, 19, and Kegan Arrington, 19. While Williams said she is glad justice was served, she believes the problem is systemic.

Since April, she has been campaigning for change, petitioning Nike, Michael Jordan and President Barack Obama through her organization Life Over Fashion.

“If I own a business and people are being killed, I would have to find it in heart to find a better way,” she said. “People are being robbed and stabbed just by standing in line. Once the doors open, people are trampled trying to get in.”

Her goals are simple: no more release dates and a supply that can meet demand. Every afternoon, Williams hits the streets distributing flyers and raising awareness about her organization.
“Basically, we need enough signatures to get Nike’s attention,” said Williams. “No more release date, so no one else will be killed over shoes. We lost five young people, including those four who took a life for shoes and now will spend the rest of their life in jail.”

The organization is starting to attract attention. While Williams said she has received no promises from Nike, she did receive a message from Nike's vice president, offering condolences for her loss. An official statement from the organization obtained by ABC-13 also promised the organization would continue to "work with our retail partners to share best practices and refine our launch process."
The organization took a major step forward when Williams met a Florida-based web developer Alexander

Richard, who volunteered to help her market her organization with a new website, Facebook page and online petitions.

Richard, who started Healing Hope ministries, said she received a message from Williams on Facebook, who had been reaching out online to different organizations for her cause. On a whim, she messaged her back and asked if she needed any help. That’s when Richard volunteered her services to Williams.

“I believe in Life Over Fashion,” said Richard. “No one should lose their life over something that won’t last, something that can be bought so cheaply… In reality, the thieves are paying a much bigger price for those shoes. They ended up paying the price of a life.”
Dec. 21, 2013 will mark the one year anniversary since Woods' death -- and the release of the new Air Jordan shoes. While Williams said she's praying no one else will get hurt, she knows her son won't be the last to be killed over the shoes.

"How many more will have to die because of these shoes?" she said.




terrible story

i know this should go in the general section but i figured more people would see it in the jordan section


http://www.yourhoustonnews.com/cypr...cle_af126df8-d460-11e2-aec5-0019bb2963f4.html
 
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Rest in peace dude. Shame on every criminal who is killing for goods. We are not talking about robbing millions but only for shoes or a mobile phone.
How low can a human sink?
Robbing is already bad but killing soneone for luxury goods? Guess some criminals deserve to be punished by torture and death sentence.
 
Where do I sign. I've been hearing **** like this for like 2 years
Its too much yo.
 
rip...but ya like it stated in the article, nothing new.

Its not JB's fault either. People get shot over all types of things. its just really sad that a man had to lose his life over a pair of js. I would GLADLY give up my two ds pairs if I knew it would save a life...
ohwell.gif
"PLEASE!! dont kill that man, just have my sneakers instead"
ohwell.gif


its like when I hear of murders around my area and come to find out the murder was for an 1/8 of trees (true story) or whatever other stupid crap people die over. ive heard of these stories multiple times
 
I love Jordan brand and Nike, but to be aware that people are dying because of your product would be reason enough to do something. But knowing them, there just gonna make a shoe and name it after the kid. And to make it worse, they haven't changed anything and released another pair of 11s a year to the day. Smh. They know exactly what they're doing.
 
How about instead of focusing on shoes as the problem, why don't we go back to good old parenting and working with kids to make sure they develop good values? Kids are being brought up nowadays in a materialistic society where there's constant reinforcement in school, the mall, etc. that having the shiniest, most expensive ____ is what will get you respect. And the parents roll along with them, giving their kids a sense of self-entitlement and not really appreciating where things came from.

I love sneakers but there's no way I'm going to let my kid become a sneakerhead and spend all his time on that versus going to school/playing sports/doing stuff that will benefit his future.
 
I hope those murderer's get what's coming to them. You gotta be a real piece of **** to rob, harm or murderer someone for their kicks.
 
Cut the ********. Cut out the resellers. They're taking a good chunk from JB as it is.

Do preorders online and call it a day.

**** retail. If the music business is obsolete at brick and mortar, why not sneakers?
 
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tbh, this story will always appear at least once every year. Not cuz of JB, not cuz of Nike, but because of the evil and greed of man. R.I.P. to Joshua Woods
 
RIP Im sorry this happened. But to say no more release dates is unrealistic. Someone will fnd out when they release one way or the other. Why not just say produce every release in EXTREMELY HIGH NUMBERS
 
It's a terrible story. The bigger overall issue is the violence in general. People killing and getting killed senselessly out here whether it's Jordans or for $25 in a person's wallet. You stop the senseless violence and you stop the problem, otherwise you will have people getting robbed and shot over whatever is the next big thing like PS4's or the new Xbox when that comes out.
 
Do preorders online and call it a day.

Yup. I agree. This is the best way to match supply to demand. Make a pair for everyone who preorders. It's that simple. Put up the presale link for 1 week, and tell them they'll get their shoes in 3-4 months, demanding on the number of orders received. Nike/JB could easily sell out more than 500,000 preorders if they really wanted to.
 
Do preorders online and call it a day.

Yup. I agree. This is the best way to match supply to demand. Make a pair for everyone who preorders. It's that simple. Put up the presale link for 1 week, and tell them they'll get their shoes in 3-4 months, demanding on the number of orders received. Nike/JB could easily sell out more than 500,000 preorders if they really wanted to.

They wouldn't want them if they made a pair for everyone. They are hypebeasts. If I had a $1 for how many times I heard dudes on here say they don't want to wear the same sneaks as everyone else or that sneaks are better because they are limited, I'd have a good chunk of money.
 
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