PHILADELPHIA (KYW Newsradio) — The family of an 18-year-old man who was shot and killed in 1965 in West Philadelphia is enduring new stages of unexpected grief.
The now-Nike executive who killed Edward David White is admitting it publicly in a new book, “Jump: My Secret Journey From the Streets to the Boardroom,” following years of not acknowledging it in a public setting.
Yet the New York Times said that in the book, Larry Miller did not acknowledge the name of the victim from that gang-related shooting.
That fact has caused new anguish for family members who want not only contact with Miller, but "atonement."
Larry Miller, former president of the Portland Trailblazers and now an executive with Nike's Jordan Brand, killed David White near 53rd and Locust in Philadelphia's Cobbs Creek neighborhood in September of 1965.
Media reports from that time said Miller believed that White, whom loved ones called David, was a member of a rival gang and shot him as he was going home from work. The Times says that White had no police record.
Miler served nearly 10 years in prison after a second-degree murder conviction for killing White and numerous armed robberies, but he got a master's degree and grew in the corporate ladder to become a top NBA executive, moving on to lead the Jordan brand with Nike. The Times said he admitted that in some job interviews, he "omitted the truth."
White's family reportedly did not know about the publication of Miller's book or his Sports Illustrated article in October, where he gave his story about the murder, and "have been blindsided again by Mr. Miller and left grieving anew."
“I don’t think my mom ever got over that trauma,” said Azizah Arline, White's daughter who was born after he was murdered, to the Times.
“David wasn’t in a gang; he didn’t get into fights,” Josaphine Hobbs said to the newspaper. “He got shot going home.”
The Times said that one of White's grandsons had only known that he had been shot and killed after leaving work. That is, until the publication of the Sports Illustrated article about Miller's book.
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Miller said he would "forever mourn his loss" and he was planning to connect with White's family. As of Friday, the Times said they had not yet made contact.
The family is reportedly asking for numerous possible steps: an apology, mention of David White's name in Miller's book, possibly a scholarship to honor White, or "some financial reparation for Mr. White's children from the profits of the book.
“You know his name, give him that respect, especially since you took his life,” said Mariah Green, White's great-niece who teaches in Philadelphia, to the Times.
White's 75th birthday is on November 21. He is now buried in West Chester, Pa.