Let's Go

And we're off for 2008.

A Crimestoppers tip Thursday morning led police to an abandoned public school building in the Lower 9th Ward where they discovered the burned body of the city's first homicide victim who had been fatally shot in the head.

The man was an African-American male, estimated to be between 20 and 25 years old, Gagliano said. He was about 5 foot 4, 135 pounds, with black hair with twists.

He these tattoos:
-- The name "Mary" on the left side of his chest.
-- The word "Bounce" on the outside of his right forearm, from wrist to elbow.
-- The word "Back" on the outside of his left forearm.
-- The name "Terrell" on the inside of his left forearm.
-- The initials "D.R." below the Terrell tattoo.
-- The letters "RIP" on the inside of his right forearm.

At 135, this is a small kid, with all the official markings of a "thug". Although we've heard it said, and completely agree, that "thug" is just a new way of saying nigger. In 2008, NOMB isn't going to let ourselves get caught up in the us vs. them rhetoric. No more thugs. Just a skinny kid who shouldn't have been shot and set on fire.

It's the first official murder of the year.

Bounce back, we about to bounce back.