Shooting victims' families left picking up pieces

Members of Anthony Hempstead's family gathered in Koreena Woodson's house Wednesday afternoon, passing around pictures of Hempstead and remembering his quirks.

"Did you see those ears?" Moniqwa Hunt cooed, holding a photo from Hempstead's basketball days. In it he's skinny and young, wearing a too-big Central Tigers jersey.

"Little Anthony looks just like that," Hempstead's mother, Evelyn McBride, said, speaking of Hempstead's 2-year-old son, who bears his father's name.

Last Friday, Hempstead, 26, was shot to death in what family members say was a misguided attempt at retaliation for a shooting that happened earlier in the day. His death was the second homicide of the year in Cape Girardeau, coming just eight days after the shooting death of Joshua Edward Dibert.

Hempstead's family members say they're at a loss trying to fathom the worsening blight of their community. They've been forced to watch the recent swell of violent crime from their front porches, and now it's hit too close to home.

McBride was born and raised in Cape Girardeau, and said that in the past, it was safer.

"It used to be a quiet town," she said. "It's just not the same Cape Girardeau anymore."

Woodson has had to teach her children where to hide in the house when they hear gunshots.

"I never thought I'd have to teach my kids that. Not here," she said.

To the family, it seemed just a matter of time before the danger got someone killed. And now they're the ones left passing around the newspaper clippings, remembering Anthony Hempstead's high school basketball conquests. They're the ones who have to raise Hempstead's two small boys, Anthony and Brayson.

Josh Dibert's daughter and stepsons also have lost a father. Dibert's fiancee, Cassie Jordan, said he loved nothing more than spending time with his children. Whether it was jiujitsu practice or a day at the skate park, the only thing he enjoyed more than watching them was giving them the pregame pep talks.

"His daughter, Destiny, would tell you that her daddy was her superhero. ... [Josh] especially loved taking her to the father-daughter dance every year," Jordan said.

Hempstead and his son, Anthony Junior, shared a love of basketball.

"He would hold him up in the air so he could shoot the ball," McBride said. "Those kids turned Anthony's life around."

Hempstead's family says his death is made more tragic by the fact that after having dealt with legal issues, he had taken responsibility for himself and his family and was building a better life for them. He was working at the Show Me Center while he prepared for a career as a barber, and was only months from graduating his program.

"He was doing everything he was supposed to do," Woodson said. "Everyone makes mistakes, but he turned his life around."

Hempstead and Dibert were more than just two homicides in a year fraught with senseless violence. Both men loved their families, and both were loved dearly in return.

tgraef@semissourian.com