Terrell Roger's father, Adam Rogers was also a community activist who worked with young people in Bayview Hunters Point. He was murdered on New Years Day 1977. For the Rogers family there is a terrible sense of deja vu.
"There hasn't been a day that goes by that terry doesn't call me. He'll say mother dear, you okay, but he won't be calling anymore," said Terrell's mother Aletha Rogers-Thompson.
Terrell Rogers family is struggling to understand his murder Saturday night.
The 39-year-old married father of two was co-founder of a non-profit antiviolence organization known as Peacekeepers. He tried to mediate disagreements on the streets of Bayview Hunters Point.
"My husband had the biggest heart. Sometimes I would say why do you have to do that why, but he felt a need," said Terrell's wife Dalonna Rogers.
The family acknowledges Rogers, whom they called "Teray," had brushes with the law, but say that was a long time ago.
When his daughter Tierra was born 17-years-ago, he changed.
"When Tierra was born it was a realization that that part of him when he might not have been making the right decisions was a phase, it was not his truth," said Terrell's sister.
The family says about a week and a half ago, Rogers expressed concern about something going on in the community. They believe his murder was connected to his work as a mediator.
"Around the neighborhood they would call him Jesse Jackson of the 'hood because he always had something to say usually in somebody's defense than his own," said Terrell's sister Gladys Rogers.
I need to note, while I had never met Rogers' relatives before today, I do have a personal connection to this story. My sister runs the Hunters Point Family, a youth development agency which oversees Peacekeepers.
Wells Fargo Bank is coordinating a memorial fund for Terrell Rogers. Please make checks payable to "Girls 2000." (That's the legal name of Peacekeepers) On the subject line please write Terrel Rogers Memorial Fund.
Click here to read Vic Lee's report on the murder investigation.
