BEAUMONT, Texas — The family of a beloved Beaumont man gathered a year after his death to continue their call for justice as they mourn his loss.
Joshua Yates was found shot to death in his apartment on December 31, 2021. Beaumont Police discovered his body after responding to a welfare check in the 1500 block of Cartwright Street.
“We was out there like this time, getting ready for New Year’s night, and I went over to the house to check on him, and my husband and I found him,” Joyce Bodwin, grandmother of Joshua Yates, said. “Someone had already taken his life.”
Yates was a former Beaumont mayoral candidate in 2019.
"The family laughed and thought he was joking," Precious Durousseau, Joshua Yates’ aunt, said. "He was serious. He did it, and he asked me to be his treasurer. I told him if he made it into office, I would do it. Anything he put his mind to, he did it."
Yates’ family describes him as a humble, free-spirited man with a good heart, who did anything he could to help anyone.
“It’s been a year today,” Durousseau said. “His birthday was yesterday, very bittersweet with him not being here.”
The grieving family feels they are no closer to justice than they were when Yates was murdered.
“With today being the day that he was murdered, and here we are a year later with no answers,” Durousseau said. “We’re not any closer today than we were a year ago. Phone calls have went unanswered. We don’t know anything.”
Having to go another year without their loved one is a hard pill to swallow.
“Today the music is playing," Durousseau said. "He would be back there dancing and singing, joking, laughing, messing with these kills, messing with his grandmother."
Since Yates’ death, the family has never been the same. The pain of losing him has never left them.
“The hurt is constant,” Durousseau said. “It’s a hurt I can’t explain because he wasn’t sick. Someone took his life. It’s a different hurt when it’s homicide. We’ve had a lot of loss in this family, but never anything like this.”
Yates’ loved ones simply can’t understand how anyone could hurt him.
“I can’t justify any reason why anybody would want to hurt him,” Durousseau said. “He had a heart of gold. How could anybody with a heart hurt him?”
The family will continue their fight for justice and closure.
“He’s somebody’s child. He was loved,” Durousseau said. “Somebody saw something, and if it was your son, your nephew, it doesn’t matter, you’d want answers.”
One way they will do this is through a movement created by Yates’ sister called “Justice for Josh.” The family made T-shirts and put Yates' picture up across the area, in hopes of raising awareness for gun violence
“We’re going to keep Justice for Josh going,” Durousseau said.
They are simply doing what they know Yates would do for them
“We want justice for him, and if it were us on the other side of this, he would do whatever he had to do to get justice for us,” Durousseau said. “So, we’re just pleading to the community. You would want it done for your family.”
The family is continuing to fight for a man they said was a good person. They said Yates’ young life mattered and believe he will continue to touch people forever.
“I don’t care where he went, he brought joy. He brought laughter,” Durousseau said. “He could preach in the middle of whatever was going on. He would pray. He fed the homeless. He did so much behind the scenes that people never even realized.”
Yates’ family is asking anyone with any information that could lead to an arrest to come forward.
“We’re just reaching out to the community, anyone in Beaumont, surrounding areas that might have known Josh,” Durousseau said. "Just begging the community and anybody that might have any type of information."
Anyone with information about the investigation is encouraged to call the Beaumont Police Department at 409-832-1234 or contact Crime Stoppers of Southeast Texas at 409-833-8477.
Friends, family of Joshua Yates mourning after New Year's Eve death
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