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Vigil calls attention to domestic violence against a murdered man in Pawtucket
Abstracted from article by Linda Borg, Providence Journal
February 9, 2008 — Eulanda LaFrance has a message she wants the public to hear: men as well as women are victims of domestic violence.
Last night, LaFrance and her family gathered in Pawtucket to honor the memory of her brother, Richard Gibson, a 22-year-old rapper and father of two who the police say was stabbed to death by his former girlfriend during an argument on February 1, 2008. The police say Gibson was stabbed in his Thornton Street home by 21-year-old Misty Ospina after she dropped off their eight-month-old daughter. Ms. Ospina is charged with first-degree murder.
Eulanda LaFrance described her brother, a rapper known as Richie Ragz, as someone who used his talent to do good. She said he was devoted to his two daughters, ages 4 and eight months, and determined to make something of his life. Although he had dropped out of Community Prep School, a private school in Providence that enrolls mostly urban youth, his family said he planned to get his general educational development diploma and attend college.
“Now, I'm a victim of domestic violence,” Eulanda LaFrance told the two dozen friends and well-wishers gathered in the Oak Hill section of Pawtucket. “Now I have two little girls without a mommy or a daddy.”
Earlier, Richard Gibson's mother, Denise Green, 59, of Pawtucket, said she had begged her son to leave Misty Ospina because she said Ospina was jealous and possessive. The couple were together for four years but had broken up about four months ago, Green said.
“He wanted to become a famous rapper like Biggie,” Denise Green said. “My message is that if you get hit once, that's enough. Don't stay with that person. You could end up hurt or dead.”
“No one pays attention to the men,” she said. “But don't be embarrassed to come forward.”
Pawtucket Mayor James Doyle also turned out to lend his support for Richard Gibson's family and to underscore the prevalence of domestic violence.
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