April 1: On This Day in World History … briefly
His most recent hit 'Sexual healing' had been released on CBS in 1983 after Gaye had terminated his 20-year association with the Tamla Motown label of Berry Gordy.
1984: ‘Mercy, mercy me’ – Popular soul singer shot dead by his father
Marvin Gaye died in Los Angeles, one day short of his 45th birthday after being shot by his father, church minister Marvin Gay, senior, during a violent argument. The cocaine addicted soul singer was living with his parents at the time of his death. But, before that, friends had become concerned about the singer’s declining mental state. He had threatened to take his own life and had become increasingly unpredictable, largely due to his addiction.
After Marvin had found musical stardom at Motown, he purchased a house on the corner of Fifteenth and Varnum in a black middle-class section of Washington, DC and moved his parents out of the projects and into the new house, where the couple would reside until the early ’70s. Alberta finally stopped working so that she could enjoy the security of owning a house. The new residence was roomy and spacious with large outside porches, but Marvin didn’t visit often due to his strained relationship with his father.
By 1968, however, Marvin extended an olive branch, giving his father a Cadillac as a present, but he said his father’s response was not affecting. Four years later, Marvin reunited with his parents in Washington, DC, after the city honoured Gaye with a day called ‘Marvin Gaye Day’, a day Marvin later said on which he felt he had made his father ‘proud’. In 1974, dressed in a woman’s wig and clothing, Gay appeared on his son’s ‘Midnight Special’ episode. In 1973, Marvin bought a house in the West Adams district of Los Angeles for his parents after moving them to California. By this time, Gay, a longtime alcoholic, could not continue his ministry and his marriage to Alberta grew more contentious with his drinking. By the early 1980s, Gay’s marriage to Alberta deteriorated and according to her (in 1984) the couple hadn’t shared the same bed in nearly ten years and slept in separate bedrooms.
In October 1983, after months in Washington, DC, Gay senior returned to the West Adams home located at Gramercy Place. He reportedly often told his daughter Jeanne that if Marvin ever touched him, he’d ‘kill him’. On Christmas Day 1983, Gaye, for reasons not entirely clear, gave his father an unregistered .38 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol to protect him from intruders and murderers. This after Gaye, heavily addicted to cocaine, felt someone was seriously plotting to kill him. Gaye also had guns because they made him feel ‘protected’. On March 31, 1984, Gay senior was angry because he couldn’t locate a missing insurance policy document and accused Alberta of misplacing the letter. Gaye awoke from his drug-induced sleep and commanded Gay to leave Alberta alone; however, neither father nor son physically attacked each other that night.
Around 12.30pm on April 1, 1984, Gay began arguing with Alberta again over the missing insurance letter. After Gay was heard yelling from downstairs, his son, dressed in his maroon robe, shouted downstairs if he wanted to talk to his mother to do it in person. When Gay initially refused, Marvin threatened him to not enter his room, according to interviews from Alberta Gay, the only other witness to the shooting. When Gay did enter, his son, angry, despondent and heavily intoxicated, shoved his father into the hallway and then hit him. The fight continued in Gaye’s bedroom where Marvin reportedly struck his father and kicked and punched him severely. Alberta successfully separated the men and convinced Marvin to leave the room.
At approximately 12.38pm, minutes after returning to his bedroom, Gay came back to the bedroom with the .38 pistol and shot his son. The bullet penetrated Marvin’s vital organs, including his heart. Gay then walked forward and shot him a second time in the shoulder at point-blank range. According to his daughter-in-law Irene, Gay hid the gun inside his pillow and she later retrieved it for police. Gay then went outside and sat on the front porch to await his arrest, which came after police discovered Marvin’s body and confirmed that Gay had shot his son. Marvin Gaye Jr’s body was later taken to California Hospital Medical Center, where he was pronounced dead on arrival at 1.01 pm
During his first police interview, Gay stated that he didn’t mean to kill his son, but that he had been scared that he would be hurt and only shot him in self-defense. When the police asked him if he loved his son, Gay softly told them, ‘let’s say I didn’t dislike him’. The former minister was promptly charged with first-degree murder for his son’s death.
After Gaye’s funeral, his body was cremated at Forest Lawn Memorial Park in Hollywood Hills and his ashes were later scattered into the Pacific Ocean. Initially charged with first-degree murder, Gay Sr’s charges dropped to voluntary manslaughter following diagnosis of a brain tumor and he was sentenced to a suspended six-year sentence and probation. He died at a nursing home in 1998.
Most notable historic snippets or facts extracted from the book ‘On This Day’ first published in 1992 by Octopus Publishing Group Ltd, London, as well as additional supplementary information extracted from Wikipedia.
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