Rashad Adair (Courtesy Polk County Crime Stoppers)
Rashad Adair, Sr., a 31-year-old father of four, was shot six times on Thursday night, December 6, 2012, while sitting in a parked car at 1410 Washington Avenue in Des Moines. He died 19 days later on Christmas Day.
Courtesy photo GoogleAccording to Polk County Crime Stoppers, Des Moines Police Dispatch received a call of shots fired in the area at approximately 11:11 p.m. As officers responded, the Des Moines Police Department then received a call from Broadlawns Hospital indicating the victim of a shooting has just come into their ER.
The victim, Rashad DeMarco Adair, Sr. of 3434 56th St. in Des Moines, was then transported to Methodist hospital where he underwent surgery for at least six gunshot wounds to his nose and both the upper and lower torso. Adair’s condition was listed as critical with expectations of additional surgery.
Two witnesses were taken to the Des Moines police station where they were interviewed and then released.
Des Moines police said it appeared the victim was sitting in a vehicle behind 1410 Washington Avenue on the city’s north side when an unknown gunman approached and fired several shots into the vehicle before fleeing on foot.
Des Moines in Polk CountyThe scene was later located, secured and processed by Des Moines Police crime scene investigators. Police also impounded the vehicle in which the victim was shot for further evidence collection.
Police said two witnesses described the suspect as an adult black male wearing a black hoodie and a black ski mask. A motive for the shooting is unknown.
Des Moines Police Sergeant Jason Halifax said investigators were unable to get a statement from Adair in the hospital because the victim was either sedated or otherwise physically unable to speak.
Adair’s death was Des Moines’ ninth homicide of the year.
Four days after Adair died, his family and friends gathered at the crime scene to light a candle and remember a son, brother, and father on what would have been the victim’s 32nd birthday.
“It’s just real hard to believe. I mean he was a good man, he took care of me my whole life, he’s the older brother and I’m the baby, and I’m going to miss him so much,” Adair’s sister Ashley White told WHO-TV Channel 13 in a report that aired Saturday, December 29.
Rashad Adair Sr.
The victim, who left behind four children ranging in ages from 1 to 15 years old, was remembered as a man who always put family first.
“It’s very sad, in my heart that we have lost him because I loved him dearly,” Adair’s Uncle Harry Young told Channel 13.
Family members told WHO-TV they hadn’t yet come to terms with what happened.
“We just had a lot of good memories growing up and it’s hard to know he’s not here anymore,” said Adair’s cousin, Amanda Butts.
Butts said her cousin didn’t deserve to be killed, and that justice was needed.
In a KCCI Channel 8 report that aired the following day, Adair’s friend, Dennis Moore, Jr., said [Adair’s death] felt like an illusion.
“The simple fact is, they said he was okay. I was reading stuff in the paper, and everybody was like, ‘He’s okay. He’s sitting up. He’s doing all right,'” Moore told Channel 8. “And then, the next thing I know, he’s dead. It’s got to stop. Everything has got to stop. Really.”
Nearly 100 people gathered outside the Statehouse in Des Moines Tuesday night, January 1, 2013, to call for an end to violence and encourage those with knowledge — not just of Adair’s murder but that of Marion Harris and other victims — to call Crime Stoppers. Marion Harris, 32, was sitting at the Courtside Bar & Grill in Des Moines on October 9, 2011, when someone approached him and shot him where he sat.
In an Iowa City Press Citizen article dated January 2, 2013, State Rep. Ako Abdul-Samad of Des Moines called for action to end gun violence in the city. He advocated a gun drop-off site so residents could reduce the number of weapons on the street.
Abdul-Samad also told the Press Citizen he has plans to organize a 1,000-family anti-violence march at the Capitol this spring.
Rashad DeMarco Adair, Sr., was born December 29, 1980 to Barbara Adair and Emmett Presswood.
Courtesy photo Katie Lou, findagrave.comHe suffered multiple gunshot wounds on Thursday, December 6, 2012, and died Tuesday, December 25.
The Henderson-Highland Park Funeral Home handled the arrangements, with visitation held at the funeral home on Thursday, January 3, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with family present from 3 to 5 p.m. Funeral services were held at 11 a.m. on Friday, January 4, 2013, at the Cornerstone Family Church. Interment followed at Glendale Cemetery.
Rashad Adair was survived by his children, Raysean, Neaoscha, Rashad Jr. and NaRiya; his parents, Barbara Adair and Emmett Presswood; his siblings, Johnny White III, Brandon (Sophear) White, Regina (Lonta) Muhammond, Trina (Roscoe) White and Ashley White, as well as extended family and friends.
Anyone with information about the suspect is asked to contact the Des Moines Police Detective Bureau at (515) 283-4864 or Polk County Crime Stoppers at (515) 223-1400. Tipsters have the option of providing tips online via an anonymous Web Tip Form through Polk County Crime Stoppers.
Tipsters may also anonymously report a crime via a cell phone text. Start a tip with the word PCCS and send it to 274637.
Tipsters may receive a cash reward if the information given leads to an arrest and conviction.
I miss my nephew
Wally & Rashad were like brothers. R.I.P
Yes they was