Authorities say it was a hate crime. Now, the sister of the murder suspect wants to set up a trust fund for the victim's 11-year old son.
Martinez resident Tina Thompson knows she can't undo the harm done allegedly by her brother Tommy, but she wants to do something for the boy that was left behind by the murder victim.
She wants to set up a trust fund.
The boy was left motherless in a crime Tina Thompson still does not understand.
Tina remembers very vividly the night she received a call that her brother had been arrested for the killing of 26-year old Taneka Talley inside the Fairfield Dollar Tree store.
She says her brother for years had had a drug problem and had served six years in prison for beating his own 2-year old son with a baseball bat.
Tina has since adopted that boy who is now 17.
Tina wants to do something not only for Talley's son Larry, but also for the mother Carol Frazier who now has custody of the boy
They are hurting financially.
"I know that it's no fault of my own. I hold this weight on my shoulder constantly. What could I have done differently to prevent this from happening?" asks Tina.
"We have medical and dental. It's coming straight out of pocket. He wants to go to college. He wants to do all these wonderful things that his mother had instilled in him. So, he wants to fulfill his mother's dreams," said Frazier.
Carol Frazier herself is hurting right now. She is moving out of her apartment because the rent went up. She is trying to make ends meet for clothes, for shoes and basketball camps for Larry. It is not happening.
Word that there is a pending settlement in this case from Dollar Tree stores does not mean they will be getting that money immediately. And, they need money immediately.
After waiting 2.5 years for Dollar Tree to pay up she's losing hope and not sure the settlement will be enough to carry Larry through until he is on his own.
Tina's family has become friends of a sort with Taneka's family. They invited her and the suspect's son JoJo to the one-year memorial of Taneka's killing.
"I was welcomed by the crowd. People hugged me and they thanked me for my courage and going in front of everyone and saying my brother murdered Taneka Talley," said Thompson.
As for the murder suspect, Tommy Thompson's trial was supposed to start this month but it has been postponed yet again.
Right now Tina Thompson is trying to set up a trust fund in the name of Carol Frazier and Larry.
