Deaf News Briefs
Here are two Deaf News briefs.
The first — a deaf man who worked for many years at a pizza restaurant in Alma, Michigan passed away from the coronavirus last week on April 20. His name was Fidel Castellano and he was 58. He attended the Texas School for the Deaf.
The pizza restaurant, Pizza Sams of Alma, said in a Facebook post on April 20 that “today is a very sad day” and that “he put in a lot of hard work and years” for the owner and the family. Many people commented and shared the post, sharing stories or memories of how funny and friendly Fidel was. He worked at the restaurant from 1999 to 2020.
There was a GoFundMe set up by Fidel’s girlfriend of 13 years, Paula Harris. It showed an image of Fidel on a hospital bed, hooked up to tubes and machines.
Paula told “The Daily Moth” when Fidel first became sick, they thought it was a sinus infection. But it became worse with Fidel developing pneumonia. He was put on oxygen but he continued to deteriorate to the point where his kidneys stopped functioning and his body shut down.
His visitation will be held on Wednesday with his burial to take place on Thursday.
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The second Deaf News brief — a deaf man named Raaseon Adams passed away from gunshot wounds in Paterson, New Jersey. He was 45.
Local news reports said on Sunday night, he was found lying on a sidewalk with apparent gunshot wounds on Summer Street near Hamilton Avenue and was pronounced dead at a hospital less than half a hour later at 7:10 pm.
Raaseon was in the news in 2018 because there was a viral video of him being violently arrested by Paterson police officers as crowds shouted that he is deaf. Prior to the arrest, the officers were investigating a separate case and Raaseon walked to two officers and seemed to have a confrontational conversation with them and as he walked away, he may have flicked a cigarette at one officer. Several officers then swarmed on him, dragged him down on a sidewalk, and pepper-sprayed and elbowed him. Many felt it was excessive force, but the county prosecutor said there was no wrongdoing on behalf of police officers.
Now, he’s gone. It is not known who the suspected shooter is. Local news said there is a lot of gun violence in Paterson with seven people killed in the first four months of 2021 and that there were 33 reported shootings.
That’s the two Deaf News briefs.
Fidel Castellano:
https://www.facebook.com/pizzasamsalma/posts/2652866671504419
https://www.facebook.com/donate/1410869702604257/4105746696112038/
Raaseon Adams: