On this date, June 20, 2005, a
couple, Javad Jay Marshall Fields and Vivian Wolfe were both gunned down in
Aurora, Colorado. Maisha Pollard. We will also endorse the
Memorial Fund and give our comments and condolences.
INTERNET
SOURCE: http://www.fieldswolfememorialfund.org/aboutjavadvivian.html
Javad 'Jay' Marshall Fields
January 29, 1983 – June 20, 2005
Javad Marshall Fields affectionately
known as “Jay” was born to Rhonda Marshall Fields and Marion Lawrence Fields.
Welcoming Javad into the world was his big sister Maisha. Javad attended Cherry
Creek Schools in Aurora, Colorado. He was involved in a variety of school,
sports, church, and community activities. Javad was a member of the debate and
impromptu teams for Future Business Leaders of America and received numerous
district and state awards. Javad played on the Varsity Buff Basketball team and
competed for the State championship during his senior year. In May 2001, he
graduated from Smoky Hill High School, Aurora.
Javad was a caring and sensitive young man. Being a little brother he always looked up to his sister and they confided in each other. He loved his “Grandpa” and “Grandma.” He always had a brilliant smile, warm hug or a friendly kiss for everyone. His personality brought people together. Javad was known as a loyal and dedicated friend, and his friends came in all cultures, beliefs, and backgrounds. Javad was an active student leader at Colorado State University and was recognized by the city of Fort Collins and CSU at its first Community Civility Awards banquet. He accomplished much in his 22 years of life and in May 2005, Javad successfully graduated from Colorado State University, Fort Collins, with a Bachelor’s of Arts Degree in Speech Communication and Rhetorical Theory. He had big plans and a bright future with aspirations of working as a lobbyist in Washington, DC or working for a Fortune 500 company. He had planned to continue his education and pursue a law degree.
Javad loved music, people, event planning and the art of communication. He loved the “spoken word.” He was a Co-Founder, owner, and operator of WAR Entertainment and became the Prince of the city for organizing and prompting urban entertainment throughout Metro Denver. While attending Colorado State he touched the hearts of many. One such friend was Vivian Wolfe. In June 2005, Javad gave Vivian an engagement ring. They planned to relocate to Virginia; both were looking forward to starting a wonderful life together with their dogs “Coco” & “Face.” On June 20, 2005, Javad and Vivian were gunned downed and killed while driving down a street in Aurora, Colorado. Javad Marshall Fields was scheduled to testify against Robert Ray for his criminal involvement in the killing of Gregory Vann. He observed Robert Ray leaving the scene in a vehicle after the shooting. He cooperated with law enforcement authorities. He was murdered days before he was due to testify for the prosecution. The District Attorney office stated that Javad Marshall Fields never asked for or requested witness protection services.
Vivian Wolfe
July 25, 1982 – June 20, 2005
Vivian Wolfe was born in Colorado
Springs, Colorado at Memorial Hospital the beautiful daughter of St. Clay and
Myong Christine Wolfe, and sister of Yong Wolfe. Losing her father when she was
2 months of age, she never had the chance to know him. After some time, her mother
married Mike Prosser who has been her father ever since. Vivian Wolfe attended
Colorado State University and graduated on December 17th 2004 with a Bachelors
Degree in Science. Vivian and her fiancé Javad Marshall-Fields were planning to
move to Virginia near her brother. This is where she had planned to finish her
graduate studies in science nutrition and go on to be a midwife.
From day one Vivian was all smiles and full of love. She loved everything and anything that could be loved. Vivian was very family oriented and loved her family and friends unconditionally. That is why her passing is such a tragic loss to her mother and best friend Christine Myong Wolfe, father Mike Prosser, brother Yong Wolfe, her baby (dog) Coco, and all that knew her.
INTERNET
SOURCE: http://www.fieldswolfememorialfund.org/ourmission.html
MISSION STATEMENT
To ensure
every child has a healthy start, a fair, and safe head start in life towards a
successful passage to adulthood.
Click here to read more about our mission.
Click here to read more about our mission.
VISION
To
empower children youth and families by providing access to health care, quality
education, and positive character development.
welcome to the fields wolfe memorial fund
Fields Wolfe Memorial Fund is a non-profit
organization committed to shaping knowledge and fostering civic engagement
throughout the State of Colorado.
The mission of the Fields Wolfe Memorial Fund is enlighten, encourage and empower youth and to reduce victimization of those harmed by crimes.
The Memorial Fund was founded in memory and honor of Javad Marshall Fields and his finance', Vivian Wolfe, both graduates of Colorado State University. Javad was loyal and dedicated to his friends who came in all cultures, beliefs and backgrounds.
In June of 2005, Javad was a key witness for the prosecution in the trial of the murder in 2004 of his business partner and friend. Javad witnessed the defendant leaving the scene of the crime.
Javad cooperated with law enforcement, however he was never offered or provided any information about witness protection. On June 20, 2005, less than a week before the murder trial was set to begin, Javad and Vivian were shot and killed in order to prevent his testimony. After becoming victims of this violent crime, the families of Javad and Vivian have made victim advocacy and justice a priority.
Their mothers have worked with legislative and governmental leadership in Colorado to strengthen the State’s Witness Protection Program. Their efforts resulted in new laws to raise awareness surrounding witness protection and public safety.
QUOTES
BY RHONDA FIELDS & MAISHA POLLARD:
QUOTE 1: Sunday December 30, 2012 - A lawmaker who saw her
son's killers sentenced to die says Colorado voters — and not 100 lawmakers
under the state Capitol's golden dome — should decide whether to abolish the
death penalty.
As state Rep. Rhonda Fields' Democratic
colleagues attempt to gather support for ending capital punishment through
legislation, she has started work on a bill that would put the death-penalty
question on the 2014 ballot, she said.
Her counter proposal sets the stage for a
political showdown on a traditionally touchy topic at the Capitol, where some
key officials' stances against abolishing the death penalty have recently
softened.
"Colorado lawmakers
should not slam the door on justice for those who commit heinous crimes," Fields
said. "I believe that society must be protected,
and the voters should decide the fate of capital punishment."
Colorado has executed one man since the death
penalty was reinstated in Colorado in 1975. Three men currently wait on death
row.
 |
|
Rhonda Fields
|
QUOTE 2: "It's a very insensitive thing to do
in light of the recent tragedies our nation and state has experienced," says Fields, who was very active
in the aftermath of the Aurora theater shooting on July 20. "It sends the wrong message to the people in our state
that no matter how horrible the crime is going to be in the state of Colorado
in 2013...we have lawmakers who want to...remove the death penalty as an option
for the DA. It's very disturbing to me. I think it's an insult to crime
victims. I don't think the timing is right."
QUOTE 3: Saturday February 2, 2013 - Fields represents one of
the most prominent voices of opposition to her fellow Democrats' expected push
to repeal the death-penalty in Colorado this session, joining a handful of
other states around the nation recently that have banned
capital punishment.
"There are some
crimes," she said, "that are so heinous that having
the death penalty as an option should be something that we retain."
QUOTE 4: Saturday February 2, 2013 - The bill is expected to be introduced in the Senate first, and
Fields stands firm in her opposition.
"I
think about my loss every day," Fields said, "and what I can do to be an advocate and a champion for
other crime victims, and what I can do to make our community a safer and
brighter place."
QUOTE 5: On Monday March 18, 2013 afternoon, Rep. Rhonda
Fields, D-Aurora, introduced a measure to have voters decide in 2014 whether to
repeal the death penalty. Last Friday, two House Democrats, Reps. Claire Levy
of Boulder, and Jovan Melton of Aurora, introduced a bill to allow lawmakers to
repeal capital punishment. It will be heard Tuesday before the House Judiciary
Committee.
“The citizens should weigh-in on this,” said Fields. “I don’t personally believe this is up to lawmakers to
decide.”
 |
|
Maisha
Pollard
|
QUOTE 6: Meanwhile, Maisha Pollard, whose brother Javad was
killed in 2005, said repeal of the death penalty is not something that should
be left up to state lawmakers.
"It's a decision that should be made
by every victim who has had to sit in court. It's a decision that should be for
every mother who has had to bury a child," said Pollard, the daughter of Rep. Rhonda Fields,
D-Aurora.
QUOTE 7: But
defenders of the death penalty had plenty of supporters at the Capitol, too.
Maisha Pollard, the sister of murder victim Javad Marshall-Fields, called the
bill "insensitive" and "erroneous." Two of the current
death-row residents, Ray and Owens, were convicted of killing her brother and
his fiancee, Vivian Wolfe, in 2005; while Levy's bill only applies to crimes
committed after July 1 of this year, Pollard expressed concern that the
abolition measure could help strengthen clemency pleas for Ray and Owens.
"They
were found guilty, not because they were black, not because of their age, but
because of their decision to commit murder," Pollard
said. "Do not put justice for my brother at
risk."
QUOTE 8: Colorado’s debate over repealing the death penalty
will stay on hold, for now, after a state House committee decided Wednesday March 20, 2013 to delay a ballot measure on doing away with the punishment.
The ballot-measure suggestion was the second
Democratic death-penalty proposal in as many days to go on ice. On Tuesday, an
outright repeal was delayed by a separate committee after nine hours of
emotional testimony on both sides.
The sponsor of the death-penalty ballot
question, Rep. Rhonda Fields, is a supporter who proposed the ballot measure
because she supports the death penalty and believes voters would decide to keep
it.
Fields’ son was gunned down in 2005 by people
who wanted to prevent his testifying in a murder trial. Two men await execution
in Colorado for the killing.
“I think the time is not
now to abolish the death penalty,” Fields said. She brought up last summer’s
mass shooting in a movie theater, which happened in her suburban Denver
district.
QUOTE 9: Fields said she hopes prosecutors seek the death
penalty against accused shooter James Holmes. A decision on whether they’ll
seek the death penalty is expected next month.
Fields said that replacing the death penalty
with life without parole would leave the same punishment for too wide a variety
of crimes.
“No matter how heinous the
crime … we’re going to say everyone gets the same penalty, everyone,” Fields
said.
QUOTE 10: “My ultimate goal is to keep the death
penalty intact, so I really need to wait to see what happens with the other
bill,” Fields
said.
INTERNET SOURCE:
http://www.fieldswolfememorialfund.org/ourfounder-interview.html
INTERVIEW WITH RHONDA FIELDS - MAY 20,
2008
By Bill Johnson, Rocky Mountain News
It had taken so long.
There was the public pleading, the bus-bench ads she paid for, the weekend vigils she and Christine Wolfe stood in parks, holding photographs of their slain children.
Then, Tuesday arrived.
Rhonda Fields sat erect in her chair, leaning forward and nodding each time the judge read jury verdicts that made the young man seated to her far left eligible for the death penalty.
Rhonda Fields, 53, did not smile or reveal any hint of joy. She simply rose to her feet and walked briskly out of the Arapahoe County courtroom to once again face news cameras, to speak on her dead son's behalf.
"I'm just extremely proud of this jury," she said, her face still emotionless. "This is not easy."
Death, of the state-sanctioned variety, now sits firmly on the table after the jury agreed with prosecutors that there were five aggravating factors surrounding the ambush murders of Javad Marshall-Fields and Vivian Wolfe at an Aurora intersection in June 2005.
Had jurors, who convicted Sir Mario Owens last Wednesday on seven of eight felony counts, including first-degree murder after deliberation, found no aggravators, he automatically would have been sentenced to life imprisonment without parole.
Attorneys for Owens today will begin their attempt to persuade jurors to spare the 22-year-old man's life.
It had been some time since I last saw Rhonda Fields, at a time when she seemed on the brink of absolute despair.
She had just purchased the bench ads and almost everyday was making public appeals for someone to come forward with information on the murders of her son and his fiancee.
"I'm fatigued," she said, as we stood in a courthouse corridor. "It is just a very sad thing that I am here and not preparing for my son's wedding or tending to my grandchild."
There was a moment after the hearing that Owens, wearing handcuffs, looked directly at her before staring for a long moment at me. He had not once flinched or offered any emotional response when the jury verdicts were read, never once looking up from his doodling on his lawyer's notepad.
Dressed in a purple tie and long-sleeve plaid shirt that he did not tuck into his baggy blue jeans, he looked the way all young killers do in a courtroom - almost like a choirboy.
And he just stared.
Later, I asked Rhonda Fields if she had noticed. She said she had not.
"When I see him," Rhonda Fields said, "it's just hard to get involved in much of any emotion."
Has she entertained any thoughts of forgiveness?
"Forgiveness?" she repeated, a quizzical look on her face. "It is in the hands of the Lord," she finally said. "It is up to Him to forgive . . . " We talked for a long time about the elephant in the hallway: the death penalty.
She has struggled with it, she confides. Before her son and Vivian were killed, she was foursquare against it.
Today, she speaks simply of seeing justice, that the system is set up with a series of laws, the death penalty being one of them. At one point, she abruptly looked away, clearly considering her thoughts and religious beliefs.
"You know," she finally said, "to me (him getting life without parole) would be like he got two free murders."
Sir Mario Owens currently is serving a life-without-parole sentence for the murder of Gregory Vann on July 4, 2004, which her son witnessed and was scheduled to testify about for the prosecution when he and Vivian Wolfe were killed.
"He should be held accountable," Rhonda Fields said. "For me, it is not about revenge, it is about seeing justice done for my son and Vivian. When I think of it, getting life on top of life in this case is not acceptable to me."
She did not in the past understand the high standards that are applied for death penalty cases, she explained.
"I've learned in this process that the death penalty is not given out like candy. There has to be strong criteria. He killed three people. He killed a witness. He qualifies."
Her life, she said, has totally changed over the past three years. She remains in her staff-training job with United Airlines, but in those years has lobbied hard with Christine Wolfe to pass two witness- protection bills in the state legislature. She has started a foundation in her son's name and is working on still more witness legislation she wants passed.
"I'm still in touch with the pain," Rhonda Fields said. "When my son died, I lost everything. Right now, my hands tingle, my face feels flush, just from the tension of all of this.
"This search for justice helps me, it diverts me," she said.
"You see when you ask me to 'feel,' it requires me to touch my pain, which still runs all through me."
Come this morning, she will be where she has been for the past six weeks: in the front row of Judge Gerald J. Rafferty's courtroom, watching and listening and remembering.
"This will never become 'over,' " Rhonda Fields said, as we said our goodbyes. "I am so happy that the system is working. But I must tell you, I would much rather have my son back."
johnsonw@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-954-2763
AUTHOR: Rhonda Fields is a Democratic member of the
Colorado House of Representatives. She has represented the 42nd district since
2011. Fields earned her master's degree from the University of Northern
Colorado. She is the founder of the Fields Wolfe Memorial Fund. She has worked
for United Airlines as well. Fields' father served in the military for 35
years, including tours in Vietnam and Korea, requiring his family to move
around the country. After Fields graduated from high school in Baltimore, the
family moved to Fort Carson, where Fields began to settle down. After obtaining
degrees from the University of Northern Colorado, Fields went to work for
Denver University and then United Airlines. She is still currently employed
with United. In 2005, Fields’ son, Javaad Marshall Fields, had agreed to give
testimony of his knowledge of a 2004 murder near Lowry Park in Aurora. Javaad
Marshall-Fields and his fiancee, Vivan Wolfe, were brutally gunned down in
their car in June of 2005, before Fields could give his testimony. Since then,
Robert Ray and Sir Mario Owens, have been convicted of killing them and
sentenced to death. In the wake of the tragedy, Fields gave testimony on two
different criminal justice bills at the Capitol. Rep. Karen Middleton dropped
out of her race after winning her primary contest in summer 2010 to take up
another job. When Middleton decided to stop running, she remembered and
recruited Fields. "12 weeks ago I was just a working-class mother, a
working class woman going to work every day," Fields said shortly before
the 2011 session began. "I take care of my mom as a senior citizen, I’m a
daughter, and didn’t have this on the radar for me."
COMMENTS
AND CONDOLENCES:
We, the comrades of Unit 1012: The VFFDP, offer our most heartfelt
and sincere condolences and we will never forget Javad and Vivian. We care for
victims and their families regardless of race and country. We encourage you to remember how Javad and Vivian lived on this earth and not how they died. As this quote encourages you all:
"So long as we live, they too shall live and love for they are a part of us as we remember them."- Gates of Prayer
We respect you, Rhonda Fields for
being a brave politician in standing up for Victims’ Rights. You are a good
mother that will always fight for justice for your son and his fiancée. The
same goes to Maisha who will do the same for her brother. We wish the Memorial
Fund all the best with great success!
 |
|
From
left: Nathan Dunlap; Sir Mario Owens; Robert Ray. (Denver Post file photos)
|
PLEASE
GO TO THIS FORCE 1109 BLOG POST TO SEE THE ARTICLE ON THE DEATH PENALTY OF THE WEEK.
No comments:
Post a Comment