THE BRONX — When 7-year-old Tyrone Lowe, Jr. flashed a smile at Capt. Keith Walton, the captain knew he had to do something to brighten the orphan’s future.
Walton and his officers at the 49th Precinct in the East Bronx began fundraising last month for a trip to Disney World and a college fund for Tyrone, who became an orphan after his mother was killed in December by his father who committed suicide a week later.
“He experienced a horrific tragedy and there’s people out here that love and support him,” Walton said. “It’s one thing to send him to Disney World, but it’s another thing to invest in his college education.”
The fund, which currently amounts to $1,200, will finance a summer Disney World trip for the boy and his grandfather. After the trip, all donations will go toward a 529 college fund for him.
The 49th Precinct has reached out to the other 11 Bronx precincts in an effort to collect at least $1 from each of their officers.
“This kind of thing tugged at our heartstrings because this kid is forever going to be a victim of domestic violence by way of losing his mother and then losing his father,” said David Lepore, community affairs officer at the precinct.
Tyrone Lowe, 30, shot and killed his ex-girlfriend Shoshane Rattigan, 28, in her Morris Park home at 3:45 a.m. on Dec. 1, 2015, while their son was in another room with Rattigan’s 20-year-old nephew, police said.
Rattigan had filed a domestic violence report with the 49th Precinct nine months earlier, police said.
Lowe was found a week later inside a stolen Honda Odyssey on Hollers Avenue and Hutchinson River Parkway, dead of a self-inflicted gunshot wound to his head, police said. A Smith and Wesson .38 revolver was found in the backseat of the parked minivan.
Tyrone is now living with his grandfather Allan Rattigan, 63, in Far Rockaway, Queens, but they met for the first time following the death of the boy’s mother. The grandfather is supportive of the police effort in creating the fund.
“The 49th Precinct is very helpful. Anything to make him happy, I’m for it,” Rattigan said. “He’s my first priority.”
The precinct has done fundraisers before, such as when an officer battled cancer last year. But the precinct has never worked on an initiative of this scale, said Joe Thompson, president of the 49th Precinct Community Council. He hopes that the fund will receive more support from within and beyond the Bronx community.
“His mom is gone. His dad is gone,” Thompson said. “His salvation in this entire thing is if the community reaches out and shows him the love of other people. The community is part of his surrogate parent.”
The Community Council is in the early stages of planning an event that would allow local families to meet Mickey and Minnie Mouse at the precinct. Photos with the Disney characters would be free, but donations to the Tyrone Lowe fund would be accepted.
Donations for the fund are being accepted by check or money order, made out to the 49th Precinct Community Council, attention Tyrone Lowe fund. Cash will not be accepted.
“By trying to put this fund together for the trip and the college fund, we are hoping to give this child a better direction and a better chance at life,” Lepore said.
“I can’t wait to see his face when he learns he’s going to Disney World,” Walton said.
