Even during his last days, Diane Barnes was still hopeful her brother would recover.
“He opened his eyes and that gave us a glimpse of hope,” she said. “I’d go visit him once a week and I would just think that maybe one of these days he’d say, ‘Hi Diane,’ and talk to me. And I had hope.”
Despite her optimism, 51-year-old Robert Barnes died Wednesday, the day before Thanksgiving and two days before Diane’s birthday.
“My birthday was yesterday and I turned 51,” Diane told NBC10 on Saturday. “We’re 11 months apart and he would tell everyone I was his twin sister.”
Diane frequently fought back tears when she spoke about her brother’s life and legacy.
“I miss my brother,” she said. “He was a great kid. Just a great kid who didn’t deserve this. I just hope people stand by our family and I hope justice is served. I love you Bob.”
Robert Barnes, whom Diane always referred to as Bobby, had been in the hospital for several months after he was brutally attacked outside a Philadelphia gas station. Police say he was beaten by a group of six people back on April 7 outside the Sunoco gas station at 5th Street and Somerville Avenue in the city’s Olney section.
The attack, which was captured on surveillance video, involved a hammer, a piece of wood and mace. The video shows a group jump from a minivan and rush towards Barnes as he stood outside the gas station. They then punch him, stomp on him and strike him with a hammer.
After attacking Barnes, the group jumped back into the minivan and sped off. Three adults -- Aleathea Gillard, 34, Shareena Joachim, 23, and Kaisha Duggins, 24 – are charged in the case. Gillard, Joachim and Duggins all rejected plea deals and will stand trial in January. The charges are expected to be upgraded following Barnes' death.
Police say one of Gillard’s children falsely accused Barnes of hitting him, which prompted the attack.
Three teens, a 14-year-old boy, 12-year-old girl and a 13-year-old boy ,all pleaded guilty to aggravated assault and conspiracy and were remanded to juvenile detention centers.
Despite the allegations against them, Diane told NBC10 she feels pity for the suspects rather than anger.
“I don’t wanna say anything bad,” she said. “I just wanna say that I hope and pray that they get the help that they need because what happened here was just so unthinkable.”
Diane told NBC10 in a previous interview that her brother suffered from alcoholism and repeatedly chose to live in the streets of Olney rather than with relatives where he’d have to stay sober. Despite his issues, Diane continued to support her brother, checking on him every week. On Saturday she described how generous her brother was in spite of his problems.
“He always cared about homeless people,” she said. “When he had an apartment in Connecticut at one time he actually moved in the homeless, a few homeless people he moved in because he said, ‘You know I know what it’s like to be homeless, Diane. I’m homeless.’”
His generosity extended towards Diane as well.
“He would help me,” she said. “He’d come to my house and ask me if I needed him to rake the leaves or help me with whatever. Whatever I needed done he was there to help me.”
Diane says she hopes her brother’s death and his legacy will lead to change when it comes to how the Philadelphia community treats the homeless.
“I hope if anything comes out of this, that us as a society in Philadelphia, we do more for the homeless people,” she said. “We provide affordable housing and adequate care for these people. They’re actually victims. They’re not safe anymore on the streets of Philadelphia.”
Diane also went into specific changes she wanted to see.
“I think the Cold Blue needs to change,” she said. “I think they need to open these shelters to people a lot sooner. Maybe even an open door policy. Let these homeless people walk in as needed. Provide social workers, people that help them. They need to be held by the hand. These homeless people suffer from mental illness, addiction.”
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Yet the biggest message Diane wants to convey is that in spite of his circumstances, her brother was a human being who showed love to others and was loved in return.
“Most people believe he was not a great brother and that his life didn’t count because he was homeless,” she said. “I just want to say that his life did count. He was a great brother. He enjoyed life. He loved life. Even though he was homeless and on the streets he loved life. And he wanted to continue to live. And that’s the message that I’d like to get out that my brother, please don’t anybody judge him because he was homeless. This kid loved life!”
