400 Gather to Mourn Slain Norwood Teen-This Day In Norwood History-June 15, 1990

Hundreds Attend Funeral Service for Slain Youth at Emanuel Temple Congregational Church

Sandra Harris let out her pain yesterday, wailing and pounding on church pews during a funeral yesterday for her only son – a teenager who died from a bullet from her own gun. Harris‘ screams and agonized shouts of “Oh, my baby!” drowned out the eulogy and “Amazing Grace.” Her cries could be heard outside the Emanuel Temple Congregational Church. Harris, a 32-year-old Boston police officer, was arguing with her boyfriend, Boston police detective Keith Turner, when she fired her service revolver in her Norwood apartment Sunday night. The bullet pierced the thin wall of her bedroom and struck her son, Dwayne, 15, who was studying in an adjacent room. Police are still investigating the shooting and no charges have been filed. Yesterday Bishop Theodore Hester advised Harris to turn to God. “Some folks would be destroyed forever by what has happened,” Hester said. “But we want to let Sandra receive divine help from God. There are many things we don’t understand, we wonder why, why, why, why,” Hester said. “God offers understanding.”

As Hester spoke, Harris, dressed in a black dress and wearing a black veil over her face, rocked in the front pew. Her ex-husband and Dwayne‘s father, Marvin, 49, sat nearby. Turner, 29, also attended. About 400 people — including two busloads of students and staff from Norwood High School — packed the church. Dozens of Boston police officers filled the pews. Two uniformed patrolmen stood at either side of the light brown coffin, which was decorated with flowers sent by friends. After the service, Harris had trouble walking down the church aisle. Relatives held her up by the arms as she struggled down the steps to the sidewalk. Outside the church, several young women — Harris‘ cousins — began wailing. One cousin fainted and had to be carried into a waiting limousine.

“We can get through it; we can live through it,” said Sarah Simpkins of Dorchester, one of Harris‘ many cousins. “(Harris) doesn’t understand it right now. She just thinks it was her fault.” Simpkins, who lost three of her own children in a housefire, reached out to mourners as they passed her outside the church. She put an arm around Kevin O’Brien, 16, of Norwood, of Dwayne‘s many friends. Kevin and Dwayne used to sing rap songs together. “It’s going to be OK,” Simpkins said quietly to Kevin, who was weeping. “You’re going to be strong, now.” Simpkins hugged Tanya Gilreath, 15, and Kristin Burke, 15, both of Norwood, as they stood sobbing in the sunshine.

Harris, a patrol officer since 1986, moved to Norwood from Mattapan last summer to escape the city’s violence and to raise her son in a safe town, friends said. Dwayne‘s friends said he was an upbeat, friendly teenager with a zest for living. He dreamed of becoming a rap singer and of attending Howard University. Dwayne was the joy of his mother’s life, said Frank J. McGee, a police union lawyer who is representing Harris. Boston Police Superintendent Willis Saunders consoles one of Dwayne Harris‘ uncles after the funeral yesterday. And Harris was a supportive and caring mother, according to Norwood High School guidance counselor Mary Lou Karahalis. “She was very positive, very enthusiastic,” Karahalis said. “A great woman.” Dwayne was her only child.

Harris and Turner have both been placed on paid administrative leave. McGee said nobody should be charged with a crime in connection with the shooting. “This was an accidental shooting,” McGee said. “There is no criminal wrongdoing. It’s a tragedy.”

Archival Note: This article has been dynamically reconstructed from the original public record print archives of the Patriot Ledger