Mon, 11/05/2007
By Robert Lowell
Reporter-American Journal (Westbrook, Maine, USA)
GORHAM (Nov 5, 2007): Faith Joyal always wanted a peaceful childhood for her her two sons. In 1997, Joyal and her husband, Bob Myers, and sons Robert and Marc, moved to Gorham from their home in the suburbs of Houston, Texas. Faith Joyal said one reason the family decided to move was to escape the dangers of Houston.
"Houston city streets were pretty violent," said Myers.
But the family did not find safety in Maine. Just six months after moving to Gorham, Robert, who had been a running back for his high school football team in Texas, died April 4, 1998, after being stabbed in the parking lot of a Denny's restaurant in Portland.
“I think about him every single day,” said Faith Joyal, a educational technician at Narragansett School in Gorham. “We miss him all the time.”
The man who spent nearly two years in prison charged with murdering their son died Saturday night in a gunfight outside Howard Sports in Saco. According to police, Seiha Srey, 25, of Cape Elizabeth, exchanged at least 15 shots with Andy Luong, 22, of Biddeford. Srey's body was found the next morning in a wooded area near the sports complex.
“We’re not surprised. He chose that lifestyle,” said Faith Joyal.
Luong fled the scene and led police on a car chase from Buxton into Gorham, where spike mats halted the Mercury he was driving. An autopsy determined he died from a self-inflicted gun shot wound in the mouth.
For Srey, the gunfight brought an end to a troubled life. He was well known to police and spent time in and out of jail.
Maine State Police spokesman Steve McCausland said Srey was notorious in Portland. “His criminal history is no secret,” he said.
After spending nearly two years in prison charged with stabbing Joyal, Srey was released and the charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence. One of the investigators on the case, Nance Monaghan, allowed Srey to come live with her at her home in Cape Elizabeth.
There Srey became the center of a controversy over whether he would be allowed to attend Cape Elizabeth High School. School officials were forced to allow him to attend when the charges against him were officially dropped, but then he attended classes only irregularly for about a month before leaving the school system, according to former school Superintendent Thomas Forcella.
It wasn't long before Srey again faced criminal charges. In 2001, he was charged with breaking into a Portland home on Halloween. Srey, a native of Cambodia, originally pleaded guilty to the charges, but later changed his plea when he learned he could face deportation for a guilty plea.
Srey spent about two years in jail after being convicted on those charges. He was released in 2003 and would have remained on probabtion until June 2008.
“It's amazing to us that Srey was out, period. He should have been in jail,” said Bob Myers.
Faith Joyal doesn't know whether Srey murdered her son, but if he didn't, she believes he knew who did.
Murdered in Portland
For Robert Joyal, the adjustment to Maine had not been easy. He was 18 and a senior in high school – a difficult time for any teenager to pick up and move.
It was made more difficult by the fact that he could not play football, because at that time, Gorham High School did not have a team. Joyal had been playing since he was in fourth grade. He was a running back and defensive end for his high school football team in Texas.
Myers said his stepson looked larger than his measured height – 5 feet 6 inches. “He was wide in the shoulders,” he said.
Bob Myers said his stepson had just rented an apartment on St. John Street in Portland, not far from where he died. Joyal never got to sleep in his apartment, as the night he was murdered would have been his first there.
Joyal also had just bought his first car, a Ford Bronco, that day. Myers said his stepson pulled out of their Gorham driveway about 5 p.m.
“I told him to take care of himself,” Myers recalled. “And off he went.”
That night, a Friday, Joyal and a girlfriend from Gorham, along with a friend from Buxton and his girlfriend, went to Metropolis, a drug-free club for teenagers on Forest Avenue.
The parents don't know exactly what happened at the club that night, but they believe trouble may have arisen over the girls. Joyal’s girlfriend urged the foursome to leave, and they went to Denny’s in his friend’s van. But when they arrived at around 1 a.m., Faith Joyal said, they were ambushed.
Joyal’s friend was punched and Joyal was attacked when he jumped from the van to help. Faith Joyal said someone pulled the shirt over her son’s head and he was stabbed three times.
In a story published in the April 8 American Journal, then- Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood described what police believed was the murder weapon. Chitwood said it was a knife with a 10-inch, double-edge blade. The story said there were more than 50 witnesses.
Robert Joyal’s funeral was held on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, where his mother was a native. She said many kids from Gorham attended the funeral.
“They were very sweet to us afterward,” she said.
Faith Joyal believes her son was the victim of gang violence and that his murder may have been part of an initiation into a gang. Some of Robert Joyal's friends believed some gang members attended his funeral.
Marc Joyal-Myers was 11 when his older brother was murdered. He is now 21. Madeline Joyal-Myers, who is now 8 and attends the Village School, never met her older brother.
Faith Joyal said her nephew, Robert's best friend, just got married.
“Robert should have been there,” she said.
Based in Westbrook, Reporter-American Journal Robert Lowell can be reached at 207-854-2577 or by e-mail at rlowell@keepmecurrent.com.
"Houston city streets were pretty violent," said Myers.
But the family did not find safety in Maine. Just six months after moving to Gorham, Robert, who had been a running back for his high school football team in Texas, died April 4, 1998, after being stabbed in the parking lot of a Denny's restaurant in Portland.
“I think about him every single day,” said Faith Joyal, a educational technician at Narragansett School in Gorham. “We miss him all the time.”
The man who spent nearly two years in prison charged with murdering their son died Saturday night in a gunfight outside Howard Sports in Saco. According to police, Seiha Srey, 25, of Cape Elizabeth, exchanged at least 15 shots with Andy Luong, 22, of Biddeford. Srey's body was found the next morning in a wooded area near the sports complex.
“We’re not surprised. He chose that lifestyle,” said Faith Joyal.
Luong fled the scene and led police on a car chase from Buxton into Gorham, where spike mats halted the Mercury he was driving. An autopsy determined he died from a self-inflicted gun shot wound in the mouth.
For Srey, the gunfight brought an end to a troubled life. He was well known to police and spent time in and out of jail.
Maine State Police spokesman Steve McCausland said Srey was notorious in Portland. “His criminal history is no secret,” he said.
After spending nearly two years in prison charged with stabbing Joyal, Srey was released and the charges were dropped due to a lack of evidence. One of the investigators on the case, Nance Monaghan, allowed Srey to come live with her at her home in Cape Elizabeth.
There Srey became the center of a controversy over whether he would be allowed to attend Cape Elizabeth High School. School officials were forced to allow him to attend when the charges against him were officially dropped, but then he attended classes only irregularly for about a month before leaving the school system, according to former school Superintendent Thomas Forcella.
It wasn't long before Srey again faced criminal charges. In 2001, he was charged with breaking into a Portland home on Halloween. Srey, a native of Cambodia, originally pleaded guilty to the charges, but later changed his plea when he learned he could face deportation for a guilty plea.
Srey spent about two years in jail after being convicted on those charges. He was released in 2003 and would have remained on probabtion until June 2008.
“It's amazing to us that Srey was out, period. He should have been in jail,” said Bob Myers.
Faith Joyal doesn't know whether Srey murdered her son, but if he didn't, she believes he knew who did.
Murdered in Portland
For Robert Joyal, the adjustment to Maine had not been easy. He was 18 and a senior in high school – a difficult time for any teenager to pick up and move.
It was made more difficult by the fact that he could not play football, because at that time, Gorham High School did not have a team. Joyal had been playing since he was in fourth grade. He was a running back and defensive end for his high school football team in Texas.
Myers said his stepson looked larger than his measured height – 5 feet 6 inches. “He was wide in the shoulders,” he said.
Bob Myers said his stepson had just rented an apartment on St. John Street in Portland, not far from where he died. Joyal never got to sleep in his apartment, as the night he was murdered would have been his first there.
Joyal also had just bought his first car, a Ford Bronco, that day. Myers said his stepson pulled out of their Gorham driveway about 5 p.m.
“I told him to take care of himself,” Myers recalled. “And off he went.”
That night, a Friday, Joyal and a girlfriend from Gorham, along with a friend from Buxton and his girlfriend, went to Metropolis, a drug-free club for teenagers on Forest Avenue.
The parents don't know exactly what happened at the club that night, but they believe trouble may have arisen over the girls. Joyal’s girlfriend urged the foursome to leave, and they went to Denny’s in his friend’s van. But when they arrived at around 1 a.m., Faith Joyal said, they were ambushed.
Joyal’s friend was punched and Joyal was attacked when he jumped from the van to help. Faith Joyal said someone pulled the shirt over her son’s head and he was stabbed three times.
In a story published in the April 8 American Journal, then- Portland Police Chief Michael Chitwood described what police believed was the murder weapon. Chitwood said it was a knife with a 10-inch, double-edge blade. The story said there were more than 50 witnesses.
Robert Joyal’s funeral was held on Cape Cod in Massachusetts, where his mother was a native. She said many kids from Gorham attended the funeral.
“They were very sweet to us afterward,” she said.
Faith Joyal believes her son was the victim of gang violence and that his murder may have been part of an initiation into a gang. Some of Robert Joyal's friends believed some gang members attended his funeral.
Marc Joyal-Myers was 11 when his older brother was murdered. He is now 21. Madeline Joyal-Myers, who is now 8 and attends the Village School, never met her older brother.
Faith Joyal said her nephew, Robert's best friend, just got married.
“Robert should have been there,” she said.
Based in Westbrook, Reporter-American Journal Robert Lowell can be reached at 207-854-2577 or by e-mail at rlowell@keepmecurrent.com.
