Projo 7 to 7 News Blog

By Amanda Milkovits
Journal Staff Writer

PROVIDENCE, R.I. -- A Providence man who's been shot at several times in the last year is now wanted for murder in the fatal shooting of a rival gang member on Sunday night.

Donald Young, 20, of Greeley Street in the city's North End, is being sought by police for the murder of Kasean Benton, 19, of 140 Sumter St., in Elmwood, said Maj. Thomas F. Oates III.

Donald Young

The lives of both Young and Benton have involved violence.

Just two months ago, Benton was released from the Adult Correctional Institutions after serving time for carrying a handgun without a license, according to a spokeswoman for the state Department of Corrections. Benton was arrested last summer after officers investigating a shooting chased him into an apartment -- finding him hiding in a closet in his underwear, and illegal guns stashed under a mattress of a baby's crib.

Meanwhile, Young, who Oates said is the member of a rival gang, has been shot several times. He was hit in the head in May when someone shot at his car on Route 95, and he was shot in the leg during a drive-by shooting in April 2008. Young was convicted of marijuana possession in 2007 and is on probation until Nov. 9.

Just before 8 p.m. on Sunday, Benton drove up to 30 Trask Street, in South Providence, to pick up a friend, Oates said.

When the friend got into Benton's car, three men came running up and started shooting, Oates said. Benton and his friend jumped out of the car, trying to flee, as the three gunman kept shooting, Oates said.

Benton made it only to the rear of the house. The friend, who has not been identified by the police, was found by officers in the area. The man was treated at Rhode Island Hospital and released, Oates said.

This is the 11th homicide in Providence this year -- and the fourth in just eight days.

Early Saturday morning, police and firefighters discovered the body of a man inside a burning building on Broad Street.

Last Monday, July 6, Randy German, 20, was shot to death as he left a vacant apartment in the West End.

And, on July 5, Ingrid Gonzalez, 34, was found beaten to death inside her bedroom in Silver Lake. Her boyfriend, Johnny Tineo, has been charged with her murder.

-- An earlier version of this report was posted at 8:41 a.m.

 Tags  Providence RI

Comments

Tony P said:

Yep, weather gets warmer and gangs start killing each other.

Don't they realize that the killing is pointless. Be men, you don't need weapons to work out your problems.

Link | July 13, 2009 10:11 AM
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LEC said:

Give them time and maybe they will all kill each other and save the state a lot of money on trials, etc.

Link | July 13, 2009 4:40 PM
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