Neal, said relatives, was shot and killed during an attempted robbery at his home in Chicago. He had been shot 7 times in the body, and died during surgery at a local hospital in Chicago.
Amandala spoke this morning with Neal?s relatives. His sister, Muriel Neal, 38, said that after speaking with relatives in Chicago, the family learned how James died. Police in Chicago are investigating the incident, she said.
It appears that James was on his porch on Thursday, September 29, sometime around 8:30 p.m., having a telephone conversation with a sister in New York when he was approached by three men.
James Neal?s common-law wife, and his daughter, 7 months, and stepdaughter, 13, were inside the house when a struggle ensued between him and the men.
Relatives say that the men tried to force him into his house, but he resisted. Apparently his attackers were demanding that he give them money that they said was inside the home. During the struggle on the porch, James? attackers did not succeed in getting him inside his home. They then shot him once in the mouth and seven times in the upper portion of his chest. The shot in his mouth shattered all of James? front teeth, and his attackers then ran to a car and sped off, said relatives.
Today, Chicago police apprehended one of James? assassins, who, relatives say, was seen from a window of the home by the victim?s 13-year-old daughter.
For the Neal family, the tragedy has reopened an unhealed wound for them. James Neal, Sr., had previously lost one of his five sons to gun/street violence.
On January 17, 2004, James Neal, Sr.?s first son, Alhurt Neal, 34, was shot and killed in Los Angeles. He was shot once in the back during a robbery. Alhurt had been approached by a male person as he left a nightclub at about 3:00 that morning and was heading towards his vehicle, parked near the club. Alhurt?s attacker robbed him of all his jewelry and left him on the ground to die. He was rushed to the Martin Luther King Hospital, but died while undergoing treatment.
James, similarly, was shot many times in the body and left to die. He also died while undergoing treatment at a local hospital.
James Neal, Jr., was a BDF Volunteer at the age of 17 in Belize. He then migrated to the United States. He lived in Los Angeles for 5 years, then moved to Chicago, where he lived until the time of his death.
He was the father of 5 children – two girls, 7 months and 5 years, and a boy, 7, in Chicago; and in Los Angeles, two children, a girl, 13, and a boy, 14, who was named after him.
He is predeceased by his brother, Alhurt Neal, survived by his father, James Neal; mother, Iris Neal, three brothers and five sisters.
The family of the late James Neal is asking the assistance of the public to support them in their time of need. They will be conducting a fundraising event on Saturday, October 8, at the Port Loyola Community Center to help the family with expenses in bringing the body of James Neal, Jr., home for burial.
A funeral service is scheduled also in Chicago for this Sunday, October 9, where James, Jr., lived for the past 15 years.