Two charged after brawl over Michael Brown merchandise sales in October36 minutes ago • By Valerie Schremp Hahn
FERGUSON • Two people face felony assault charges after a fight that broke out last October in a Ferguson parking lot over the sale of commemorative Michael Brown shirts.
Latonya R. Ewings, 35, of the 3500 block of Illinois Avenue in St. Louis, and Calvin Carter, 36, of the 2400 block of Petrova Avenue in Jennings, were each charged Tuesday with one count of second-degree assault.
Court documents say Tony Petty was helping Pearlie Gordon sell “Justice for Mike Brown” merchandise under a tent at Red’s BBQ, a restaurant at 9300 West Florissant Avenue, on Oct. 18. Michael Brown Jr. was shot and killed by a Ferguson police officer on Aug. 9, 2014, prompting civil unrest here and nationwide.
Gordon is the mother of Michael Brown Sr.’s wife, Calvina. Gordon said at the time that she was selling the shirts with Petty and another man that afternoon when a group of about 20 to 30 people rushed them. One of them was Lesley McSpadden, Michael Brown’s mother, who told Gordon she couldn’t sell the shirts. Gordon replied that McSpadden didn’t have a patent on the name and that she was going to keep selling the items.
Court documents say that Petty identified the defendants as those who punched him. He said they hit him in the head and face with their fists and a stick, and he suffered facial fractures and vision problems. He was taken away from the scene in an ambulance. Ewing was also seen taking T-shirts from the tent, court documents say.
Gordon said she was attacked by several people, including McSpadden. She said she also went to a hospital for her injuries, including loose teeth, a broken finger and bumps on her head.
She was unaware of the charges in the case before being contacted by a reporter Tuesday. “I want everybody charged for it, because it was totally uncalled for,” she said. “I want everybody who was involved charged.”
McSpadden’s attorney said at the time that McSpadden had not assaulted anyone. She has not been charged. Edward Magee, a spokesman for the St. Louis County prosecuting attorney’s office, said Tuesday night that prosecutors had two videos of the incident but these are the only two people the office has been able to charge.
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