Schenectady residents react to homicide in their neighborhood

Posted at: 10/06/2012 11:21 PM
By: Dan Bazile

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SCHENECTADY - 28-year old Terrell Bethea faced a judge early Saturday morning to answer charges accusing him of killing 43 year old Charles Bowman of Schenectady.

Police cruisers were all over Schenectady Street in the Hamilton Hill neighborhood --responding to the emergency call on Friday afternoon. They found Bowman had been shot multiple times in the upper body. He was taken to Ellis Hospital where he was later pronounced dead.

“The younger generation, they don't care. It’s not a fist fight anymore, it's a gun battle.”

Patrick and Susan McCormick live a couple of blocks away from the crime scene. They’ve been there for the past 26 years.

Susan explains, “It’s scary. It’s very scary. But I think there's crime everywhere. It’s more visible here.”

They’ve been doing their part to try to clean up their community. They’ve joined groups to bring people together -- and started a neighborhood garden where they grow vegetables. But at times the couple says it seems like an uphill battle.

According to Susan, “It seems like we clean something up and something happens and... it's an endless effort really.”

Patrick tells us, “You’ll have people you'll see them get out of their car, throw their garbage out onto the street and walk into their house.”

The McCormicks say they wish the police would patrol the streets more. Meanwhile police wouldn't say what led to the shooting. Some neighbors believe it might have been connected to drugs.

Bethea is locked up in the Schenectady county jail without bail. He’s scheduled to appear in court on October 9th.