A man found dead in a barrel in Malibu was “lovable” and always tried to set a good example, his grieving father told NBC4, as he looked for answers to why someone would kill his son.
Javonnie Murphy said his 32-year-old son, Javonnta, was himself a father. He was found dead inside a 55-gallon barrel on Malibu Beach Monday morning.
“I’m a strong Black man, but this, this is hurtful. I just want to know why. He didn’t deserve it,” Javonnie Murphy said.
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He said he saw his son last Thursday. At the time, he said they were at a park. He was making barbeque while his son was playing basketball. Javonnta Murphy left “in good spirits” to go get changed and was supposed to return to the park to eat.
But Murphy said he never saw or heard from his son since. Instead, he saw Monday on the news that someone’s body had turned up inside a barrel. The next day, he got a call telling him that body was his son’s.
“They were trying to get rid of him. They put him in a thing like that and threw him in the ocean. They were trying to get rid of him,” Javonnie Murphy said.
He said his son didn’t have any problems with anyone. Growing up, he never got into trouble, and he talked to his siblings to give them guidance and set a good example.
“It just broke the whole family down. We are all hurting right now. We’re all hurting, and we want justice,” Javonnie Murphy said.
Javonnta Murphy was also trying to make it in the music industry as a singer-songwriter.
The Medical Examiner’s Office revealed Friday that he was shot in the head. Police have thus far made no arrests.
“He was the positive energy in the room, and he was just a good person. He had a good soul. He was very nice. I just don’t understand how this could happen. He was a great father," said Vanetta Smith, mother to the victim's child.
Meanwhile, Javonnie Murphy is hoping the coming days will bring answers and justice for his son.
"The only thing I can say is you have got to answer to the man upstairs,” he said. “You have got to answer to Him upstairs.”
