LGBTQ

DeFarra Gaymon: Atlanta CEO fatally shot in Newark park by sheriff’s detective

DeFarra Gaymon spent a year planning his Montclair High School 30th reunion but he would end up dead upon his visit to New Jersey .

Published

14 years ago

July 21, 2010

Unheard Voices Staff

DeFarra Gaymon

DeFarra Gaymon looked forward to attending his 30th reunion at Montclair High School. He spent nearly a year planning and even made sure he would be available despite his busy schedule as ceo and president of a credit union in Atlanta.

Gaymon, 48, drove up to New Jersey Thursday for the gathering, which was to take place the following evening at the Crowne Plaza Hotel at the Meadowlands.

DeFarra Gaymon would never make it.

Affectionately called “Dean”, Gaymon was fatally shot Friday evening by an undercover detective from the Essex County Sheriff’s Office during a confrontation in Newark’s Branch Brook Park.

The detective, who went to the park at 6 p.m., fired a single shot into Gaymon’s chest, authorities said. Reportedly, there were complaints about people engaging in sexual activity in public and authorities were sent to investigate.

Gaymon, who was married with four children, died at University Hospital in Newark at 9 p.m., said the Essex County Prosecutor’s Office, who is now investigating the shooting.

His death is the fifth law enforcement-related shooting in Newark in the past month and the ninth this year. There have been six fatal police-involved shootings in Newark in 2010, mirroring last year’s total through July, said Katherine Carter, a prosecutor’s office spokeswoman.

Gaymon was unarmed, though authorities said he “tussled” with the unidentified detective who was trying to arrest him on charges related to the original call.

Gaymon’s “life must have flashed before his eyes and he went into a panic,” according to a law enforcement official told NJ.com with knowledge of the investigation, but who was not authorized to talk.

NJ.COM reports:

Authorities describe that section of Branch Brook Park — on West Drive near Bloomfield Avenue — as a known meeting point for sexual encounters. Sheriff’s officers have made more than 200 such arrests there in the last 18 months, all without incident.

“We’re saddened by this tragedy and our heartfelt condolences go out to his family,” Essex County Sheriff Armando Fontoura said.

Gaymon’s sister, Kelly Gaymon Armstrong, said can’t believe her brother would ever challenge a police officer.

“There’s nothing threatening about his character,” she said. “He’s a softie. It doesn’t add up.”

Joyce Brogdon, a longtime friend who graduated from Montclair High a year after Gaymon, said, “nobody’s perfect, but he was the closest thing to perfection. He told me he was going to make VP by 40. He did. He was going be CEO. He was. He had the perfect life. He married his high school sweetheart.”

Authorities said the detective is 29 years old and an eight-year veteran who has received several commendations. The detective, who was not injured, was taken to University Hospital after the shooting, where he was medicated, the prosecutor’s office said. He was “very traumatized” by what happened, Fontoura said.

The detective gave a statement to investigators Monday afternoon, Carter said, and more information was expected to be released today.

DeFarra Gaymon lived with his wife, Melanie, and their four children in Suwanee, Ga., about 30 miles outside Atlanta. He graduated from Montclair High in 1980, then from Benedict College in Columbia, S.C., four years later, his sister said. He returned to New Jersey, where he became vice president of Summit Trust Company on Springfield Avenue in Summit, then moved back to South Carolina, where he became vice president for a credit union there. “He worked his way up,” his sister said.

For the last four years, DeFarra Gaymon has been president and CEO of Credit Union of Atlanta. Credit unions, which are owned and operated by their members, provide a variety of banking services. In a statement, Calvin Tucker, chairman of the company’s board of directors, said Gaymon “leaves a legacy which includes an unshakable commitment to the underserved, his staff and the credit union movement.”

Kerry Asbury, a high school classmate who helped organize Montclair High’s “all-class reunion” on Saturday in West Orange, and said several classmates who attended were also at the 30th reunion.

“They were shocked to hear about the death,” Asbury said. “He wasn’t that type of guy. But we don’t know what happened…I’m just saying, don’t pass judgment if you don’t know what happened.”

Kelly Gaymon Armstrong said her family plans to fly to New Jersey early next week to find out just that. “We want answers,” she said.

----------------------------------------------------------
Connect with Unheard Voices on Twitter, Facebook, TikTok, Instagram, YouTube

Download the app on Google Play or ITunes.
----------------------------------------------------------
Unheard Voices Magazine LLC is a news reporting platform covered under Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research.

Related Topics:DeFarra Gaymon New Jersey Newark

Up Next

Man Charged With The Murder of 16-Year-Old Jason Glisson

Don't Miss

Rodolfo Godinez: Defendant In NJ Schoolyard Slaying Gets Life Without Parole

Unheard Voices Staff

Unheard Voices is an award-winning news magazine that started in 2004 as a local Black newsletter in the Asbury Park, Neptune, and Long Branch, NJ areas to now broaden into a recognized Black online media outlet. They are the recipient of the NAACP Unsung Hero Award and CV Magazine's Innovator Award for Best Social Justice Communications Company.

2 Comments

Ourstateofmind

July 28, 2010 at 3:00 am

Well my friend I have visited your site and read some articles. Also, now a subscriber OSOM

Reply
JustMe

August 2, 2010 at 7:55 am

Thanks for checking out and subscribing to the mag!

Reply

LGBTQ

Creating a safe space for Black LGBTQ+ joy

BLACK JOY DISCO wants to celebrate Black LGBTQ+ culture in Washington, DC with performances, art, and custom mocktails, but financial challenges have prompted organizer and DC creative Lee Levingston Perine to start a GoFundMe to help fund the affirming space.

Published

2 days ago

May 12, 2024

Unheard Voices Staff

Photo: GoFundMe

“I seek to raise $5,000 by Friday, May 17, 2024, to cover essential expenses for this significant community event,” Perine wrote.

Table of Contents

About BLACK JOY DISCO

BLACK JOY DISCO is an Afrofuturist, zero-proof micro-festival celebrating Black LGBTQ+ joy and culture through music, movement, and media.

The event is set to take place Saturday, May 18, 2024 at the Woolly Mammoth Theatre Company.

The lineup includes performances by local luminaries like Riley Knoxx, Pussy Noir, King Molasses, and The Experience Band & Show, a pop-up shop, custom mocktails, and a dance party with Baronhawk Poitier and live drumming by Asha “BOOMCLAK” Santee.

They are also creating a “Liberation Lounge, ” a sanctuary that imagines a collective future where Black LGBTQ+ folx can thrive. The multimedia installation affirms and uplifts Black cultural practices of joy, activism, and wellness through projection, soundscapes, and art making, including the Chocolate City Wishing Tree.

GoFundMe

Donations are expected to help ensure this celebration of Black LGBTQ+ joy can move forward as planned.

To read more and donate to their cause, visit the GoFundMe.

Visit BLACK JOY DISCO’s website.

Culture

Billy Porter To Play James Baldwin In Biopic

Billy Porter is set to play novelist and civil rights activist James Baldwin in an upcoming biopic produced by Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group Motion Pictures.

Published

1 year ago

April 12, 2023

Chenelle R. Covin

Billy Porter (Photo Credit:Steam Pipe Trunk Distribution Venue https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Billy_Porter.png)/James Baldwin (Photo Credit: Allan Warren/https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:James_Baldwin_35AllanWarren_Allan_Warren.jpg)

Billy Porter is set to play writer and civil rights activist James Baldwin in an upcoming biopic produced by Byron Allen’s Allen Media Group Motion Pictures.

Table of Contents

Billy Porter will play in James Baldwin biopic

Porter and Dan McCabe will write the script for the biopic based on David Leeming’s 1994 book James Baldwin: A Biography.

The deep look into Baldwin’s life and struggles represents the culmination of a long-held creative ambition for the Emmy-, Tony- and Grammy Award-winning performer.

“As a Black queer man on this planet with relative consciousness, I find myself, like James Baldwin said, ‘in a rage all the time.’ I am because James was. I stand on James Baldwin’s shoulders, and I intend to expand his legacy for generations to come,” Porter said in a statement.

About James Baldwin

Born in Harlem in 1924, Baldwin was a gay African American writer and civil rights activist who spent much of his life outside the U.S., writing largely about Black identity, activism, sexuality and race relations.

James Baldwin (Photo by: Allan Warren)

Baldwin is best-known for the iconic books, Go Tell It on the Mountain, Notes of a Native Son, Another Country and The Fire Next Time, which have all been turned into or inspired by movies, including If Beale Street Could Talk and I Am Not Your Negro documentary.

Production

Porter’s Incognegro Productions will co-produce the James Baldwin biopic along with Allen Media Group.

“Billy Porter and Dan McCabe’s talent and commitment to amplifying James Baldwin’s legacy and contributions are invaluable and unmatched for this unique and epic story,” said Allen, chairman and CEO of Allen Media Group, in a statement reports The Hollywood Reporter.

Culture

Byron Perkins Makes History As First Openly Gay HBCU Football Player

With his announcement, Perkins is the first openly gay football player at a Historically Black College or University.

Published

2 years ago

October 21, 2022

Unheard Voices Staff

Byron Perkins (Instagram)

Byron Perkins, a defensive back who plays Division I football at Hampton University in Virginia, came out as gay on Instagram this week. With his announcement, Perkins is the first openly gay football player at a Historically Black College or University.

Table of Contents

Byron Perkins on being the first openly gay HBCU football player

“I have come to understand that life is precious and I could be gone at any moment, therefore, I will no longer be living a lie,” Perkins posted to Instagram. “No one should have to live a life crippled by what society thinks.”

Byron Perkins (Photo Source: Hampton University)

Perkins is a 6’3” redshirt junior from Chicago, Ill. The transfer from Purdue University has appeared in a total of 11 games over two seasons at Hampton. The Hampton Pirates have a record of 4-2 this season in the Colonial Athletic Association (CAA).

In an exclusive interview with OutSports, Perkins said he came out in part to set an example for other Black gay male athletes who are suffering in the closet.

“Especially at an HBCU, young Black gay men need an outlet,” Perkins told Zeigler of OutSports. “They need a support system. There hasn’t been an out gay football athlete at an HBCU. I want to end the stigma of what people think. I want people to know they can be themselves.”

Perkins opened up with the outlet, sharing the challenges of being in the closet and how keeping his sexual identity private had hindered his growth as a person.

“I’ve been self-reflective and trying to prioritize what makes me happy and makes me feel alive,” Perkins told OutSports. “I thought it could be just football and school, but there was a component missing. And recently I’ve been able to figure out that I haven’t been fully happy because everyone didn’t know who I was. Authenticity is everything to me.”

He is proving gay men can play football as well.

About Hampton University

Hampton University was founded in 1868 as Hampton Agricultural and Industrial School for freed Black men following the U.S. Civil War. The research university in Hampton, VA is renowned for its museum, which is not only the oldest museum in Virginia but it’s also the oldest African American museum in the U.S.