b'near the old Memorial Medical Center, is one of the poorest in the cityin fact, it iswooden fence had been built around the entire home of about 1,000 square feet, and among the 5% poorest neighborhoods in the United States, where 53% of all chil- residents and, eventually, authorities, began to notice the high level of traffic into dren live below the poverty level. Most of the homes in the Laredo/17th St. area wereand out of the house on an ongoing basis. So much so, that CCPD narcotics agents built between 1940 andhad sent in confidential informants to make drug purchases at the house within two 1969,andthemedianmonths of the March 14th shootings.home value is $52,505,Deandre Mathis, a 19-year-old who was popular in his former north side neigh-amongthebottom5%borhood before moving to the near west side with his mother and siblings, died at of all residential neigh- the hospital. The young man shot at his side survived. Witnesses reported seeing a borhoodsinTexas.gold, 2001 Buick, driven by a woman with long, black hair, park at the corner of 19th Whentwo19-year-oldand Coleman, one block from the victims home. Two men were said to have exited young men were foundthe vehicle while the driver waited, one with what appeared to be an assault rifle. shotoutsidethehouseThey were seen entering the front gate at the Coleman house, exiting a few minutes at2010ColemanAve.later and returning to the car, after which the three sped away. While the loss was inthenoonhourofa tragedy for Deandres friends and family, the home invasion, robbery, shootings Wednesday,March14,and murder on Coleman Ave. were common in a neighborhood that has been among A typical street-level drug bust in Corpus Christi2018,neighborswereCorpus Christis poorest and most violent for generations.will generally yield several ounces of metham- alarmedbutnonesur- Nueces County is huge. Of its 838 square miles on land (327 sq. miles are wa-phetamines, cocaine and pounds of marijuanaprised, and neither waster), the city of Corpus Christi encompasses only 175 square miles, less than 21%. along with guns and a few thousand in cash. the Corpus Christi PoliceWhat was exclusively vast farmland west of the Crosstown Expressway extension Dept. In recent years, a(TX Hwy. 258) has become dotted with new, high-end neighborhoods of oversized TheCooasastalBend.c THE COASTAL BEND MATHE CGAOZINEASTAL BEND MAFEATURED: The StGAZINEories that MattLate Summer 2018ered 29TheC talBend.comom 103'