By Chuck Stewart, Jr.
Newburgh - It’s hard for Susan Whitfield to believe that it has been a year without her son Nathaniel Cobbs.
He was 25-years-old when he died in police custody last summer after being beaten, tasered and attacked by a police dog. He left behind three children, a mother and step father, who are still grieving his death a year later.
Whitfield says it’s hard to explain the last 12 months without her son. "It seems like it was yesterday that he was here, then gone," she said. She also doesn’t see any changes with the City of Newburgh Police Department.
"They are always asking what can we do? They shouldn’t be asking what can we do. They should be saying what really happened," Whitfield said. She continues to seek justice for her son through the legal system. "Justice," Whitfield says, "that’s what I want."
It has been her faith that has sustained her throughout this entire ordeal. "I serve a God that is a just God. I know that the God we serve will get us through," she said.
As for the children, they too have found it difficult without a father. Nathaniel, the oldest of the three children, now 10-years-old, acts out on occasion, the result of dealing with his father’s death, according to Whitfield. "He’s always looking at his father’s picture, saying, ‘daddy, daddy.’"
Last weekend as residents gathered for the 10th annual Johnston Street Block Party, many wore T-shirts in memory of their friend Nate, a Johnston Street resident. A good friend of Nate’s, NEF, said he cried when he learned that his friend was dead. He was among hundreds of people that gathered Saturday afternoon for the event, which had a somber tone this year.
"We use to hang out all the time," NEF said. He recalled the annual basketball tournament, the two played in at the Gidney Avenue basketball courts. "He was one of our twin towers," NEF said. He didn’t know if he would participate in this year’s game. It holds a lot of memories.
Memories like those shared on Johnston Street last Saturday will keep Nate’s memory alive. And that’s what his mother wants. She wants her son to be remembered as someone special. In the meantime, she will continue to seek justice and make it one day at a time.
