It’s unbelievable to me that some people can commit murder over things of little to no value. Sixteen months ago in Greenbelt, Maryland, 16-year-old Jericka Chambers was shot and killed by family friend Rydell Estep. The 21-year-old Estep had been arguing with Chambers over a bottle of green tattoo ink. Both Chambers and Estep wanted the ink and witnesses reported seeing them snatching the bottle back and forth before Estep pulled out a gun and shot Chambers once in the head.
‘Full of life and a great swimmer, that’s how Jericka’s family describes her. It’s now been 16 months since she was murdered. Today the long and painful trial came to an end.’
‘The two were reportedly arguing that summer night over the tattoo ink. They each snagged the ink away from each other outside of her Greenbelt apartment, before Estep pulled out a gun and shot her once in the head.
The Bladensburg high school freshman wanted another tattoo to go with one she already had of a butterfly, similar to the one her cousin now has. At least two people witnessed the incident and testified, including Estep’s own twin brother.’
As of today, Estep has been convicted of the murder of Jericka Chambers and will be sentenced next month. He faces a life sentence with no chance of parole.
No one wants to see anyone killed over any type of disagreement, but it must be especially painful for the family and friends of Jericka that she was killed over something as minor as a bottle of tattoo ink. Hey, we all love tattoos, but getting killed over a desire to get one is something that no one can understand. This was certainly a senseless death and I can only hope that Jerika’s family and friends can now take some sort of comfort, however minor, that justice has been served.