ROCKFORD Ten years after the fatal shooting of his son, Wayne Fricks Sr. says he’s returning to Rockford healed and ready to address the city’s violence and help the formerly incarcerated.
Fricks Sr. is the former Rockford CeaseFire executive director and a former Gangster Disciple-turned-minister. He assists the pastor of No Cross No Crown Fellowship Church in Rockford. He and his wife, Wanda, are moving from Wisconsin this winter to re-launch and revamp the nonprofit Men of War Ministries.
In 2010, 21-year-old Wayne Fricks Jr. was shot in the head while at a birthday party. He died 17 days later at Rockford Memorial Hospital. Earl F. Boyd, 43, the man accused of the shooting, was acquitted of eight counts of first-degree murder following a jury trial.
Rockford quadruple homicide victim s mother finds peace in forgiveness
ROCKFORD Six years after a Rockford woman tragically lost her daughter and two grandsons in a quadruple homicide, she says she s chosen to forgive the killer.
“By the grace of God, he has given me peace,” said Rolanda Collins, who spent the anniversary of their death last weekend surrounded by family. There was no special memorial or tribute, just a place of love, she said.
Collins daughter, Martia Flint, was at home with her two sons, Tyrone Smith III, 6, and Tobias K. Smith, 4, and her boyfriend, Demontae Rhodes, on Dec. 20, 2014, when all four were shot to death.