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Family mourns slain 20-year-old

By Bryan Schwartzman

Jordan-Dawkins, 20, of 109-15 Merrick Blvd., was shot to death in the early morning hours on Dec. 22 following a dispute which erupted outside what residents contend is an illegal gambling and strip club on Guy Brewer Boulevard.

He was found dead at 6:30 a.m. by a passerby on the front lawn of a house on Sayers Avenue near 166th Street, said Officer Carmen Melendez, a police spokeswoman.

It is believed he may have laid there for as long as two hours, Melendez said.

Police have not made any arrests, Melendez said. In an all too familiar scene in southeast Queens, more than 200 people gathered at Gilmore's Funeral Home in St. Albans to pay respects to a young man who had been shot to death.

Pastor Kelvin Jones delivered a dramatic eulogy which often focused on the need to embrace Jesus Christ and the Lord even in times of sorrow. But he did address the drug and crime activities which were believed to have led to death of the Jordan-Dawkins.

“For too long our black boys are being shot down,” Jones said. “We need to stop and think what we are doing to ourselves.”

Tiffany Jordan, Jamel's cousin, read a letter written by his mother, Brends Dawkins.

“My son thought I could pull him out of anything,” the mother wrote. “But the only power I had was the power of God.”

“Every time he would get arrested around the building, I would hear him crying, 'Mama,'” she wrote. “The police knew me. I always tried to keep my boys out of trouble.”

Jordan, like all of the day's speakers, had difficulty reading the letter and several times broke down and then regained her composure to finish the letter. Throughout the hourlong service several mourners were so upset they left room in tears.

Dawkins' letter also addressed her son's killer.

“You didn't kill my son, so don't think you did,” his mother wrote. “God just took him home.”

Jordan-Dawkins leaves behind his 8-month-old daughter Lamani Janell and his fianc