A Tulsa murder, and no one will testify

Imagine that you know who shot and killed the person you love. You even know his name. But you can't do anything about it. Six weeks ago, Di'Andre Blackwell was murdered outside Goodfella's

Sunday, December 9th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

Imagine that you know who shot and killed the person you love. You even know his name. But you can't do anything about it. Six weeks ago, Di'Andre Blackwell was murdered outside Goodfella's nightclub in Downtown Tulsa.

But as News on Six reporter Steve Berg reports, unless someone is willing to testify, his family and fiancÃ©e worry the killer will go free. The sadness they feel is hard to imagine. But the frustration makes it even worse. Plenty of people have come forward to say who shot Di'Andre Blackwell. But his fiancÃ© Kim and his aunt Ruby say nobody is willing to testify. Kim Rowe, victim's fiancÃ©e, "really frustrates me that there are people who know and who saw what happened, and they're not saying anything because."

Because they're scared. Scared because the suspect may be part of a gang. Ruby says she understands, but she says the violence will continue if the person isn't arrested. Ruby Russell, victim's aunt, "The threat is not you coming forward and telling what happened, the threat is having this nut out on the street, saying first off that he killed somebody, and it could be a member of your family next." Because other people involved may be in a gang, Di'andre's family wants to emphasize that he was "not".

Police say he was not the intended target that night. Tulsa Police officer, Lucky Lamons, "I betcha I've gotten 12 calls naming the shooter and he's talking to people, telling them he did it. And of the four he shot, three lived, but no one will identify him as the shooter." Di'andre left behind Kim and their 16-month-old son Jalen, and a daughter on the way. He was a member of the 1996 Jenks football squad, had a fulltime job and owned his own home. He would have been 23 next Friday. "Di'andre was a very warm and caring person... if you met him, you just fell in love with him."

If you have any information about this shooting, please call Crime Stoppers at 596-COPS.