The playground at the new Lee Walker Heights housing complex has been named after twelve-year-old Derrick Lee, Jr., who was shot and killed in July 2018. Derrick’s grandparents and the Reverend Eddie Tolbert were in attendance.
Derrick’s murder remains unsolved.
His grandparents and the Reverend Eddie Tolbert and his wife Charlotte came to a recent Asheville City Council meeting accompanied by Jack Logan of Put Down The Guns Now Young People and asked that something in the city be named in Derrick’s memory.
Thanks to the generosity of Monark Patel of the Milan Hotel Group, the playground at the new Lee Walker Heights will be named after Derrick. Patel proposed paying for the playground equipment at the playground and contributing $500,000 to Asheville’s affordable housing trust fund as part of his company’s plan to build an Extended Stay Hotel on Biltmore Avenue. The Asheville Housing Authority spoke with residents who agreed with the naming.
The Asheville Housing Authority is in the process of renovating Lee Walker Heights, which was Asheville’s oldest public housing property, into a mixed-income community. The property is now vacant. Demolition is expected to begin later this year.
There is a $5,000 reward for information leading to an arrest in connection with Derrick’s murder. Anyone with information regarding Derrick’s murder is encouraged to contact the Asheville Police Department at 828-252-1000, or Asheville-Buncombe Crime Stoppers at 828-255-5050, where those reporting information can choose to remain anonymous.