In New Bedford deaths, lost hope for prayer

After his son was killed eight days ago, Corey L. Henderson said he wanted to meet the mother of his son's accused killer, and to pray together for two lost lives.

``She lost her son to jail, and I lost a son to gun violence, to street gun violence," he said. ``I wanted . . . to sit with her, and pray with her."

He never had the chance.

Bernadette DePina, whose son David ``Crunchy" DePina II , 23, was charged with fatally shooting Justin Barry-Henderson, 20, was found shot to death in her home on Thursday. Authorities suspect that she was killed in retaliation for Barry-Henderson's death.

In a telephone interview yesterday, Corey L. Henderson said that he fears for his and his family's safety. He called for a halt to the surge of violence that has left New Bedford with its first homicides of the year.

``We are living in very scary times," Henderson said. He called on city leaders, the media, and New Bedford residents to strive for a better, more peaceful world.

``We need some strong healing. . . . If we could just come up with a way, a system, that helps."

City leaders and residents have been bracing for what many fear may be a wave of gang-related retaliations.

Police say the strife may have been triggered on May 21, when Barry-Henderson and John Burgos Jr., 21, were shot. Burgos survived the shooting. Police who overheard the gunfire arrested DePina near the scene. Police are seeking at least one other suspect.

Police declined to comment yesterday, but prosecutors have said that both of the men who were shot belonged to a group from the United Front Homes apartments. DePina was associated with the rival Monte Park gang, prosecutors said.

On Thursday, DePina's mother, 49-year-old Bernadette, was killed execution-style in her bedroom.

As New Bedford detectives, State Police, and FBI gang unit officers began the search for her killer, the community mourned. There have been two memorial services. In addition, about 200 people walked city streets, chanting ``no guns" and ``no gangs" at rallies and vigils through the weekend.

Yesterday, Henderson said he, too, was grieving her loss.

Henderson said city leaders, police, and the community must search for a better way to raise children, to push for better role models from Hollywood and the music industry, and to find a way to remove guns from the streets.

Henderson said he was 16 when his only child was born. ``We basically grew up together," he said of his son. ``His spirit lives strong in me. They took his breath, but they didn't take his life or his spirit," he said.

Henderson said he was breaking the silence he and his family have maintained in part because he wanted to correct some misinformation about his son and his death.

He said his son had been shot three times, not the 10 reported in some media. And while his son was listed as having had one active criminal case in Fall River, Henderson insisted that his son was not affiliated with a gang.

His son was earning Bs in online college courses from the University of Massachusetts, was looking into the possibility of attending college in Florida in the fall, and was thinking of becoming a clinical psychologist, Henderson said.

``Justin was incredibly intelligent, incredibly gifted," Henderson said.

Henderson asked that the Globe ``stress the importance of my sympathy and my condolences to the DePina family and how sorry I am that this happened to them and how sorry I am this happened to the city of New Bedford."

Asked if he knew why his son had been killed, Henderson said, ``Not only do I wish I had the answer for why Justin got shot, I wish I had the answer to why Mrs. DePina got shot. I wish I had the answer for why any young person in New Bedford got shot."

Henderson, who lives out of state, voiced fears that someone might decide to strike against his extended family in New Bedford.

``My family has become increasingly worried and scared for our lives that something is going to happen to us as retaliation for what happened to her family," he said. ``We had nothing to do with that. We would never want something like that. . . . I am devastated that I didn't get a chance to sit with her."

John Ellement can be reached at ellement@globe.com. Christine McConville can be reached at cmcconville@globe.com.