“We left the gym about 8 p.m. to go to my house. When we got to Taft Ave. in Beltzhoover, a police car sped up behind me and turned on its red and blue lights. I pulled over immediately wondering why I was being pulled over now! Then out of everywhere, other police cars start surrounding my car! I was on the phone with my neighbor, Robin Player, having one of our many conversations about improving one’s self, improving one’s community, etc., before the police got behind, so she was on the phone when it all transpired.”
Events like the one he was about to encounter would rankle anyone. But Rayco had been through this before and he was ready. At least, he thought so! As with every encounter he had with the police, what was about to unfold was nothing short of theater.
“Police cars, lights,... more cars,... more lights! Then a voice over the intercom says, ‘Exit the vehicle with your hands up!’
I holler out of my window, ‘What am I being pulled over for?’
The same voice, ‘Exit the vehicle slowly with your hands up!’
Now I notice that there are a lot of guns drawn and aimed at me! Jelani is crying! Lil Rayc is quiet. Now I’m getting worried, not for me, but for my children! My windows are tinted 100%! The police can’t see in my car! So I start to holler, ‘My babies are in the car!’ The police didn’t care!
They just hollered back, ‘Get out the car and get on the ground or you will be tazed!’ I had to think fast! If one of my young partnas would have came by and they had heat on them, there were too many places to shoot from where one could remain undetected! Shots would have been fired! So I complied with the police request. As I did this, I instructed my neighbor to come get my children. Yesterday! As soon as I said ‘Laferty and Taft’, a cop snatched my earpiece out of my ear!”
Keeping his cool because of his concern for his sons made Rayco vulnerable, yet he wanted to be heard.
“Once I was handcuffed, they picked me up off of the ground. The detective in charge was already searching my car at this point. They knew I didn’t have any drugs on me, so I knew he was hoping to find a gun! Him searching was a waste of time. I’ve already let it be known that if and when I carry a gun, it’s on my hip! I need to be able to access it at any given moment for ANY and ALL threats! It’s 100% as my tattoo says, ‘Live Free or Die!’”
The sirens, lights and shouts soon attracted a group of people.
“My neighbor Robin Player, came running to the scene. I asked what I was being arrested for, and every cop that I asked including the cop in charge said, ‘I don’t know.’ I felt like Mandela! I was being took to jail in front of my children and noone could tell me why!”
Why? What was this all about? His thoughts clouded by the events, he wanted to focus on his sons and ensure their safety. But still the question, why is he being arrested?
“Someone mentioned something about my children walking! The temperature was about 25 degrees Fahrenheit! I told the cops that my Baby was 18 months and he was not walking anywhere! One of the cops made an allegation about my car being stolen, but my neighbor Robin quickly squashed that! She was allowed to take my car because it was not used in any crime. I also called Jelani’s mother after I got off of the ground. She showed up just before they took me away. Once I was put in the police wagon, I asked one last time, ‘Why am I being arrested?’
The cop in charge said, ‘I don’t know. It’s Steve Hitchings’ warrant.” A little clarity came to me, but I still didn’t know what I was being charged with! I was barely in Pittsburgh in 2006! If I did something that I knew I could go to prison for, I had many chances to run and never come back! I traveled around the country all year, so what was I being arrested for? I knew that Shawn Davis was working for Hitchings and I told everyone that I could! I knew that it wouldn’t be long before James Jones got back to snitching, and I told everyone that I could! I knew that Hitchings was upset that I exposed his RAT, because another cop mentioned it. So this was his get back!”
Rayco’s suspicions were now realized and magnified beyond proportions.
“I was arrested and took to my arraignment without being questioned by the police, like they do on television. I finally got my paperwork and found out why I was arrested! It turned out that James Jones, a.k.a. JC, a.k.a. J lock, a.k.a. Snitch lock, was shot up on July 8th, 2006! He tells the police, according to the police report, that his name was Eric Timbers, and that he was walking on Climax Ave. when he heard gunshots and was hit, but he didn’t see nothing! It was also discovered that in Jones’s vehicle, at the time of the shooting, was 125 grams of crack cocaine, 1000 stamp bags of heroin and a bag of powder cocaine! He left the hospital before he was arrested! 3 days after he was shot, Jones calls his parole officer and tells him, ‘I didn’t see who shot me, but I know that it was Rayco!’ Approximately 30 days after he was shot, Jones was arrested! On his possession was a Glock 40, semi automatic hand gun! He was also charged with that gun! 70 days after he was shot, he gave his first statement, and after talking to his P.O., Jones gets a visit from Detective Steve Hitchings! After this visit, Jones changes his statement to, ‘I saw Rayco Saunders shoot me!’ He gave detailed descriptions of the crime scene, too! 86 days after his changed statement and 159 days after Jones was shot, I was arrested! There wasn’t anything or anybody that tied me to this crime, but the changed allegation of James Jones!”
Reprimanded and now in custody, Rayco knew he was set up.
“Now I’m in jail! This is a direct violation of due process, according to the 5th & 14th amendments of the US Constitution! However, to the powers that be, these amendments, as well as most of the US Constitution were enacted way before an African, born and raised in the United States, was considered a Man or a citizen, so they don’t apply! My bond is $100,000 straight! I can’t pay it because I have two probation detainers on me. One is a detainer that stems from my conviction in 1997. The other stems from my conviction in 2006, which was an invalid detainer because I was sentenced to this probation 10 days after James Jones was shot up! When I addressed my detainer issues with my attorney, she told me that the two judges would not lift them, even though she hadn’t tried to get them lifted. I also received information that Jones told multiple individuals that he didn’t know who shot him, but was going to get me to pay him $25,000 to set me free! My lawyer said that she would interview these individuals but never did!”
Sitting in jail for an alleged crime he had no part of would make anyone stressed out and angry. He had been through this procedure before and knew the wheels of justice would be slow and deliberate. He would be patient up to a point. But like most wrongly-accused individuals, he set out to right a wrong. He wasn’t going to allow the warped criminal justice system have its way. Not now. Not ever!
“From my 1997 conviction, where I was convicted without any evidence for a crime that never happened, I learnt to never put your life in someone else’s hands, so I started working on my case myself. When I checked on my detainers, I discovered that the valid detainer from 1997 was lifted! This is the time that I figured out that the detainer from 2006 was invalid! I also got word from my potential witnesses that my attorney had not come to interview them. I was furious! What blew my top was when I got a letter from my attorney asking for more money on top of what I already paid her or my case would be postponed! I had no problem paying the money, but I wanted to see some action!”
Frustrated by the inaction of his attorney and confined to the bleakness of a barren cell, Rayco began to form a strategy. If his attorney wasn’t up to the task, he would make some drastic changes. His years of incarceration made him something of a ‘jail house lawyer.’ He knew some of the major court decisions affecting the accused and set out to make his voice heard.
“I started to have doubts about my attorney when she told me that I couldn’t file a “motion to suppress the identification of me, by the witness!” I knew that she was either wrong or she was working for the other team! According to “McCormick Evidence 297 (2d ed. 1972)” and some more up to date US Supreme Court cases that I can’t name off the top of my head, I had a very strong argument that James Jones’s statement was very unreliable and would not fall under the “spontaneous utterance” or “res gestae exception”, and therefore should be suppressed!
In the meantime, his quality of life already compromised by his arrest was further tested when it came to his diet. A diet that didn’t meet his rigid standards as a professional boxer.
“While I’m going through this with the people that are supposed to be working for me, I’m dealing with some other issues inside the Allegheny County Jail. They wouldn’t provide me with a vegetarian meal! They kept denying me on the basis of religion, or in my case, a lack of! So for 8 months, I fed myself through the jail commissary! Granola bars, oatmeal and pistachios! $2,000 dollars! I still have my receipts! Finally, word got to the warden. I was immediately put on the vegetarian list!. However, this proved to be a little too late. My body was lacking so many nutrients that in July of that same year, a couple of months before I finally got to eat a meal, I was shooting basketball in the jail house gym! I had already played a few games before, that day, and also the day before. It was an added activity to take my mind off of my current problems!”
The basketball court became an escape; a place to let loose and a source of bonding with rules respected and cooperation replacing stress and regimentation. A temporary escape from the environment of control. It gave Rayco, the chance to let loose - a welcome refuge from the harsh life of incarceration.
It was one of these innocent past-times that would change the dynamic in Rayco’s life. A simple game of basketball suddenly changed everything. For any athlete like Rayco, the simplest injury gone unattended can have catastrophic results on one’s career. This was to be his ‘wake up’ call.
“The serious ball players played basketball in the evenings. My team won the first game. Being that another team always had next, the second game started immediately. I scored the first two points of the game, so my team kept giving me the ball. The next play was a screen. I run my defender from one side of the court to the other, pick and roll...I’m wide open! The ball is passed to me! I take the 15 foot jump shot... “POP!” What was that? I felt my left foot flutter like a diving board that’s just been jumped off! When I came down, I went to the ground! I knew from the sound and the feeling that I ruptured my Achilles Tendon!”

Everyone sensed that something very wrong had occurred. Writhing on the ground, holding onto his shattered leg, the damage already done, Rayco cried out.
“The guys standing on the far wall, which was about 25 feet from me, had a look of horror and shock on their faces! They heard the sound of my Achilles when it snapped! One of their first questions was, ‘What was that!?’”
Rayco knew he needed help immediately. Fast! But like most situations in such a confined and isolated environment, there would be a delay. A lapse of a few minutes is understandable, but this wait seemed to go on forever.
“Though I was on the ground, laying on my side, holding my ankle, I stayed calm. I instructed the guys around me to tell the guard that I needed immediate medical attention. Yesterday! This was a waste of energy. I wasn’t seen by medical personnel for an hour. Once I was escorted to the jail clinic, I was seen by a Doctor Young. He was a 400 lb. brown-skinned guy that was a sad excuse for a doctor and a person.”
By the time the doctor had arrived, Rayco had assessed his injury and was ready to convey the information he knew to the medical staff. A medical staff that didn’t want to hear him.
“He asked me what was wrong. I told him that I ruptured my Achilles Tendon. He asked me, ‘How did I know?’ I told him, ‘I am a professional athlete. It is my job, duty and obligation to know when and what is wrong with my body!’ This dude told me that it was just a sprain and that it would be alright in a week or two. Then he tried to give me some pain medication. I refused them! I told him my reasons for not taking medications. However, I did ask for some rubbing cream. My leg was killing me! I was sent back to my pod with a cane!”
With no x-ray or follow up procedure to determine the source of the injury, the inaccurate and cursory evaluation of Dr. Young would resonate in a still worsening of Rayco’s condition. Inaction and inattention led to severe pain. Yet he was still not given the proper care. With no follow-up, his condition would worsen.
Knowing the gravity of his injury, Rayco pleaded for help. Time and again his request was met with skepticism and outright neglect. Finally, Dr. Young appeared again.
“In an attempt to try to get my leg fixed, I put in numerous requests to medical, only to be seen by Doctor Young two more times within 7 seven days of me getting injured. Both times he brushed me off. As the days went on, my lower left leg doubled in size! My toes even swelled up! About three weeks later, I was called to medical and seen by a different doctor. He told me to do different movements with my foot, which I could not. He took notes. Whatever he was writing, I knew that it wasn’t good. He sat with one hand on his head, in a slouched position. He told me that he was sending me to the Ortho Clinic.”
Finally sent to the clinic for a thorough examination, what was known to Rayco was, at long last, recognized by the medical staff. Three long weeks had passed.
“A few weeks later I was escorted, in leg shackles and handcuffs to the Ortho Clinic. My ankle was so big the sheriff was shocked! The ankle cuff would barely go on the first notch. Because I couldn’t get a MRI, due to the bullet fragments around my heart, I was given a sonogram. A sonogram wasn’t like a x-ray. The results were immediately viewable as it was being done. Both doctors and the assistant who were present, simultaneously agreed that my Achilles Tendon was completely ruptured.”
Able to finally be evaluated by an orthopedic surgeon, the news was as bad as expected.
“The main doctor said to me, ‘If this injury would have happened yesterday, I could’ve fixed it! Because so much time has gone by, there is nothing I can do!’
“I asked, ‘What does this mean for me?’
‘You will never be able to stand on your toes! You will never be able to jump as high! You will never have full function of your leg again!’”
Anger reinforced Rayco’s already cynical, albeit correct assessment of the prison system. They were responsible for his present condition. Imagine a star athlete, injured on the field and sent home without any follow-up treatment. The media along with a legion of supporters and a line of lawyers would surely fall in line and demand an explanation with legal repercussions. Unfortunately, in his present venue, little could or would be done. Anger and the feeling of abandonment were replaced by a dose of reality - what next? What could he do with his boxing career? The blame justifiably started.
“I blamed Doctor Young for this! If he would have listened to me, my leg would be fixed! I set in my cell and thought about what this would mean for my boxing career. In order to be successful, I needed full function of both legs. This was the first time in many years that I shed tears! I blamed myself! I blamed doctor Young! I blamed the police! “What did I do so bad in my past life to suffer so much in my current life?” (Tina Marie, Deja Vu)”
To any person who had to confront what Rayco Saunders endured as a result of what happened on the basketball court, it would be understandable that the person would have much to be cynical about. That same person could withdraw into himself and make himself reclusive and brooding over what had happened and ask: ‘Why me?’ The tough, hardcore streets made Rayco more defiant at the system, angrier by the day and left wondering what was to become of him.
Added to this scenario was yet another completely and devastating event. One in which he had absolutely no control. It occurred on the same mean streets that he had known throughout his life. This time, the streets had their way and reigned supreme. Like a superior opponent in the ring, this time there was no way out. That event took place on a hot July night, not far from his cell.
“Man! Could things get any worse? On 24 July, 8 a.m., I’m listening to “The Steve Harvey Show”, and the local news comes across the radio, ‘A Northside teen was killed last night when he was shot with an AK-47 assault weapon! 18 years old.’ At this moment right here, everything in my body stopped working except my ears! My heart, my lungs, anything that made sound! In a matter of 1 second, I begged the Almighty, 1000 times, ‘please don’t let it be Trevor!’ The radio continued, ‘Trevor Greer was shot multiple times last night!’ I jumped off the top bunk, not worrying about my leg anymore, and ran/hopped to the door! I had to get to the phone! It wasn’t yet time for recreation so the doors weren’t unlocked yet. Every cell has a button and intercom so the prisoner can reach the guard on duty, and vice versa! I hit the button and watched through my cell door window as the guard on duty went to answer my call. When he came over the intercom, I tried to tell him that I urgently needed to use the phone, but before I could tell him, I broke down into tears! My door unlocked and I made it to the phone as fast as I could. Trevor’s mother, answered crying! I was crushed! We had our differences through out our relationship! We had our share of ups and downs! None of that mattered anymore! She had just lost her first child! The eldest brother of my son, Jelani, was physically gone, forever!
Grief quickly turned to anger. Here he was locked up and alone. Unable to attend to Jelani and his mother, Rayco wanted to be there for them. Anger set in. He was determined to use the network in jail to find the facts. The subculture of prison is rife with information that seeps into the darkest confines of the cell from the streets. The facts relating to the murder of young Trevor soon became evident behind the walls. With the murder of Trevor, it would be no different. Determined despite his grief, to find out the facts. But, first he thought of the young man.
“I met Little Trevor in 1993 when he was just 4 years young. It’s interesting because I was at his house with his mother when I got the call that my first son, little Rayco, was born! I used to call Trevor, my human alarm clock, because in the mornings he would make sure that I woke up by hitting me in my head with his plastic baseball bat!
“I was crushed that I couldn’t be there for his mother! If someone ever needed any support, this was definitely the time! Yet, I had no control! No say so! I couldn’t even pay my respects at the funeral without being told what to do! The county wanted hundreds of dollars to allow me to view Trevor’s body, but under these conditions: I had to go when the funeral home was closed! No family members could be present! I had to go in shackles and cuffs and they couldn’t be removed! And I could stay no longer than 15 minutes!
Insult added to the wounded Rayco! How callous could the system be? No time off to pay his respects and no time to bond with Trevor’s mother at her most traumatic and stressful period.
“I wanted to go so bad, but these conditions were unacceptable! If it were free, yes! But for hundreds of dollars...never! So as a result, one more notch of hatred was added to my heart!
“Sadness, turned into anger! In jail, you get more information than they do on the streets! The police had names of suspects. I had names of perpetrators! I knew what gun was used, who had the gun and where the gun went! I just needed to get out of jail!

Rayco was determined to get to the bottom of the tragedy. He wanted justice for Trevor, but it was not to be. Not in his present circumstances. Now he had to harness his energy into his case and prepare for his court date. Difficult as it was for him to mourn alone, he redoubled his effort to ensure that he was ready for his day in court. He had to. He had to move on. Nothing could be done for Trevor, despite all the anger and hurt.
“I channeled my focus back to my law work and my leg! I immediately went into rehab mode! Up the steps on my toes! Down the steps! I was in so much pain, but I was not going to be denied of the use of my leg! Running! Walking! Jumping jacks! I would not be denied!
“My lawyer postponed my case without my consent. I fired her! I wrote a letter to the judge telling him that I was ready to proceed without an attorney. This letter preserved my rule 600 right to speedy trial! I also filed a motion to represent myself. When this motion was granted, the prosecution, thinking that they were about to get over on me, exposed their full hand! They opened my eyes to things that I didn’t know about! Once I felt the prosecution was all in, I hired another attorney.
“Out of the three attorneys that I met with, he made it clear that he worked for me and would do what I asked him to do! Every motion that I wanted filed, he filed it! Whatever information that I didn’t have, he gave it to me! When I brought his attention to a specific issue, he paid attention! I was confident that I chose the right guy!
With his confidence restored in the new attorney, it was time to get ready for his trial.
“When trial started, picking the jury was the first time that we had a disagreement! We disagreed on a juror, a brown-skinned guy, who was arrested for stalking his girlfriend! My lawyer wanted this guy bad! I didn’t want him! He reminded me so much of the only brown- skinned woman that I had on my jury in 1997! I think they even wore the same kind of eye glasses! My lawyer saw something in this guy though that I didn’t see! We accepted him.
The ensuing trial was a time for the bogus charges to be brought and dissected. Rayco was prepared, as was his new counsel. He would make his mark, beginning with his wardrobe.
“The trial lasted three days. The first day, I wore some greyish blue dress pants, with a similar button up shirt and my blue Alligator and Ostrich, David Eden shoes, with matching belt. I didn’t know who was on trial, me or James Jones! The prosecution spent the whole day presenting and going over what James Jones was caught with! What did James Jones guns and drugs have to do with me? It was a smoke screen! There were no witnesses and no evidence to tie me to this crime, so the prosecution stalled for time by presenting all the drugs and the gun that Jones was caught with! Without this smoke screen, the prosecution’s case would have took 20 minutes, tops, to present! A major blow in the prosecution’s case was when their star witness, James Jones, was asked to show the jury one stamp bag of Heroin, out of 1000, that he admitted to possessing and distributing! Jones acted like, and stated that he was afraid to touch his own drugs! He should’ve won an Oscar!
Rayco knew what was going on with Jones. He would testify to save his own skin, even if it meant perjuring himself. He also knew he had cut a deal to lessen or avoid any jail time.
“James Jones was on parole for drugs and guns when he was busted this time. He was facing 33 years in federal prison under the career criminal statue! My lawyer asked James Jones what he received for these crimes that he was just convicted of, because we knew some type of deal was reached for his testimony. Jones answered, ‘10 years probation!’ My lawyer, not expecting that kind of answer, was shocked and asked Jones to repeat his answer! 10 years of probation was unheard of for a guy facing a MANDATORY 33 year sentence in the federal penitentiary!
The next witness, a police officer, fared no better under relentless questioning from the now competent and dedicated attorney representing the defendant Rayco Saunders. His attorney went right on the attack.
“When my lawyer questioned the cop in charge, Steve Hitchings, he immediately asked him, ‘who sanctioned this deal with Jones! Who gave the go ahead to override the federal statue, on this case?’ Hitchings stuttered, stumbled and everything else with his mouth. When he couldn’t do that anymore, he used the infamous words that can get you out of any question asked in court, ‘I can’t recall!’
The first day of his trial over, Rayco awaited the next day’s proceedings and felt ever more relaxed. A new day meant he would don another eye-catching wardrobe. His taste in designer clothes was evident the minute he set foot into the courtroom.

“The second day of trial, I wore a silk tan sports jacket, a brown long sleeve shirt, tailored fitted brown pants and my Stacey Adams, brown & tan Alligator shoes, with matching belt. I was sharp as a guillotine! I was scheduled to testify this day. My son, Lil Rayc, was scheduled to testify also. Not about my innocence, but about what me, him and the baby do every Friday and Saturday evenings, which is watch fights on TV. There would be no way that my son could testify to something that happened 1½ years prior! The DA, Chris Avetta, tried to trick my son into saying that I coached him to say things that were in my favor. This wasn’t a concern of mine because I never told my son to say anything! I only wanted him to speak the truth of what he knew.
After his son’s testimony, the defendant himself was called to the stand. Sworn in, sitting in the witness chair, he was prepared as ever to let the court and anyone hear what needed to be said. He wanted to get the facts out.
“When I took the stand I spoke what was on my mind. But my number one rule when being questioned is ‘to answer what I am asked as truthful as possible’. The less you say, the better off you are! Unless you can turn the question into a positive! I was asked by the DA, ‘Do you want to see Jones dead?’ I replied, ‘The only people that I want to see dead is rapists, child molesters and serial killers!’ The real answer to the Jones question was, ‘I want to see him suffer!’ But given the circumstances, my reply was the ‘politically’ correct answer.
His testimony over, his defense attorney called upon three other character witnesses to take the stand. They performed marvelously.
“Three other people testified on my behalf. My brothers from another mother, Malik “Dripp” Cobbs, Thomas “Train” Darwin and Jelani’s mother. Dripp and Train were eye witnesses to the shooting! The DA asked them why they didn’t go to the police? Both answers were, ‘We don’t go to the police!’ When Jelani’s mother testified as to my where abouts, all the males in the court room were spellbound! I don’t know what it was on that day, but she was super sexy! Everything about her! Her walk! Her movement! Her voice! Very soft spoken. She reminded everyone of Sharon Stone in the movie “Basic Instinct”, when she was being interviewed by the police.
The last day of the trial was the most momentous. It also had its share of surprises.
“On the third and final day, I wore a crème sweater, crème pants and my three tone Umberto Pellegrini, square toe shoes, with matching belt. The judge on the case who used to be a homicide district attorney, addressed all of my motions while the trial was going on. He denied everyone of them! My rule 600, “right to speedy trial”, although violated, was denied. My motion to suppress the obviously “unreliable and unduly tainted identification by James Jones”, although praised by the judge as, “very well researched”, was denied. So the case went to the jury.
“This was it! Do or Die! I was took back to the bull pen. I went to the restroom and soon as I finished, my name was called to go back upstairs to the courtroom. The escorting sheriff said, ‘jury’s back quick!’ I responded, ‘either they love me or hate me!’ After I was unchained and seated, my lawyer whispered to me that I am going home. He told me that he ran into the two alternate jurors in the hall and they told him that we won. They also told him that the jurors didn’t even sit down before coming to a decision.
Much is said about a jury when they reach a verdict and report back to the courtroom for the decision to be made public. Would they look at the defendant? Would the DA look at the defendant? Would the jury have a poker face, smile or look straight ahead?

“When the jury entered the court room, the assistant DA, Chris Avetta, didn’t even look their way. He was as white as Casper the Ghost. I thought he might fall over in his chair. The jury read the verdict, ‘not guilty.’ My lawyer hugged me, and told me congratulations. I was still furious! Another year of my life, took away from me, just like that! Took away from my children, because another MAN said so! I don’t appreciate that at all! I will have the last laugh though! One way or another!
“After I was found not guilty, I wasn’t immediately allowed to go home. The frivolous probation detainer that judge O’Toole had on me and refused to lift, still was holding me. I didn’t get released until two days later. While I was being held, illegally, the medical brains of the Allegheny County Jail found out that I was cleared of all charges so they tried to rush me into surgery the morning I was to be released! I knew that if I got the surgery done, that I would not have been able to go home until I was medically cleared. In other words, if I would have had the surgery, even though I would have been a “so-called free man”, I still would have had to remain in jail until I was medically cleared to leave. Knowing surgery can’t be done if you eat, I told the guards in the intake that I had eaten. The surgery was canceled. I was released later that day. http://raycowar.com/book.html

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