2nd man charged in student's injury

Police have arrested a second man they say robbed Baptist Hill High School football player Adonis Blake of $4 and pushed him out of a moving van, leaving him in critical condition on the pavement.

Rakim Dvon Holmes Livingston, 19, of Yonge's Island was arrested about 5 p.m. Wednesday. He's charged with assault and battery with intent to kill and strong-arm robbery.

Police also charged Brandon Lamont Holmes, 17, of Adams Run with strong-arm robbery Wednesday. Holmes already is in jail on an assault and battery with intent to kill charge in the July 14 incident.

Holmes played football with Blake. Livingston was a classmate.

Blake, an 11th-grader and offensive lineman for the Bobcats, suffered a head injury, a broken hip and a broken pelvis. He was unconscious for weeks. He's gradually recovering, according to his mother, Shirley Blake.

Livingston and Holmes offered Blake a ride to football practice, she said.

According to affidavits, they reached into his right front pocket and took out $4 before throwing him out of the moving vehicle.

Other than the medical bills and seeing her son in pain, the single working mother's biggest cause of grief is wondering why it happened.

"They say you shouldn't question why," she said Wednesday night. "But I have to question why. Why did they almost kill my son for $4.35? That's the question I need an answer for. If they had needed the money that bad, I would have given it to them."

The stolen money was change from what she had given him the day before to grab a bite at McDonald's, she said.

Reach Dave Munday at 937-5553 or dmunday@postandcourier.com.