.
.
.
I’ve been breathing a sigh of relief since the TX rapist of elderly women, dubbed ‘The Twilight Rapist’, was apprehended earlier this month. I thanked God and felt appreciation that his victims and others who lived in fear could now go about their life knowing he was in jail. Any person who violently abuses the elderly is the lowest of the human race to me and doesn’t deserve to walk freely with the good people of this country.
My happiness over the ‘Twilight Rapist’ capture was short lived after reading of yet another serial rapist. This predatory rapist is stalking the streets of Detroit’s east side, and he uses a gun to abduct, rob and rape his victims. Several young women, aged between 17 and 33 have become victims of this excuse for a human being. Earlier on LE wouldn’t give out the number of women this lowlife had terrorized and violated. But they reported in http://detnews.com/ that he’d robbed and raped seven women since January 1, 2011. These ladies, according to reports, abducted near bus stops were taken to a secluded area. Most of the victims were walking alone but one was in her vehicle when her car was bumped from behind. She exited her car to check for damage; it was then that he abducted and attacked her.
This rapist is terrorizing the women in Detroit’s east side and I pray the ‘Monster’, as the police chief appropriately called him, is caught soon. The police have distributed several sketches of him from descriptions his victims have given them. He is a black man believed to be in his 30s with a slim build and is about 5' 9" tall. The rapes occur between 7 p.m. and 7 a.m.. Fortunately, everything that can be done to find him is being done. Volunteer citizens and activist groups are watching as their family, friends and other women go to or arrive at bus stops; so are the police.
I am appalled that such disgustingly violent people live among us but also well aware it's a fact they exist. These victims are trying to live an honest life the best they can, just as the TX victims were doing, but violence of a coward with a gun disrupted their life. I do not know what the minimum (or maximum) sentence is for rape in Michigan but if a weapon is used, I feel it should be, at the least, imprisonment for life. These women deserve no less. They need to know the justice system didn’t ignore or throw away the violence against them with a five or a ten-year sentence where the rapists can be paroled after 2 or 3 years to violate another woman. That, to me, would be re victimizing the victims.
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Monday, January 3, 2011
Our Officers Are Dying At An Alarming Rate
.
.
During 2010 the instance of police officers dying in the line of duty was up 37% from 2009 and previous years. This is not a stat to be proud of for sure. Our police are out in force daily defending us, helping us in times of need and put their life in the line of fire to protect innocent people from the vile among us who have no regard for human life. And sadly, police departments and sheriffs’ offices across the country are having to ‘downsize’ due to financial cutbacks.
Cop killings from the last week of 2010:
On December 26, 2010 in Woburn, Mass, Officer John Maguire was chasing two robbery suspects when he was shot four times. The suspect who fired the fatal shot, Dominic Cinelli, was also shot and killed. Two other suspects, the other robber and the getaway driver were apprehended later and charged accordingly. Officer Maguire was 60 and planned to retire in a year.
Monday, December 27, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia, Trooper Chadwick LeCroy pulled over a car with its headlight out and exited his vehicle. The driver, Gregory Favors sped away and Trooper LeCroy gave a chase. Favors hit a mailbox during the chase and Trooper LeCroy approached the vehicle. As the Trooper reached the driver’s window, Favors fired a gun and shot him in the neck. Favors then left his vehicle with the gun still in his hand and tried to free the mailbox from his car but didn’t succeed. He then took Trooper LeCroy’s police unit and left the scene.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010, Officer Jillian Michelle Smith a 24-year-old policewoman was shot and killed. Officer Smith died protecting a 11-year-old girl from the shooter. The young girl survived but the shooter killed himself after shooting Officer Smith and Kimberly Carter. Officer Smith had gone to the apartment to take a report of domestic violence. The killer wasn’t there when she arrived but came back with the gun a few minutes after she arrived.
The First officer to die in 2011:
On January 1, 2011, I read of yet another officer dying in the line of duty and of a second officer being wounded. Reading those articles is not how I wanted to start my year.
Deputy Sheriff Suzanne Hopper was sent to a campground in Enon, Ohio to investigate a reporting of shots fired. Deputy Hopper noticed a camp trailer with a window shot out and discovered footprints. She was about to take photographs of the scene and footprints when gunfire erupted. Deputy Hopper died at the scene. A policeman, Officer Jeremy Blum, also at the scene, was hit in the shoulder by a shotgun blast. During the gun battle the shooter, Michael Ferryman was killed.
The shooters in the murders (and it was murder) of Officer Jillian Smith and Trooper Chadwick LeCroy had previous run-ins with the law. They had released Trooper LeCroy’s killer, Gregory Favors, from jail a short two weeks prior to the murder. He had 18 previous arrests. He’s in jail now, and charged with murder and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. When located, Mr. Favors was still wearing the same clothing he’d worn when killing Trooper Chadwick. He also had blood on his hands but explained it away by saying it was a fight with his girlfriend. I don’t think he’ll bond out this time. I certainly hope not anyway. I was angry that he’d use intimate partner violence as his excuse for blood on his hands! Officer Smith’s murderer, Barnes Samuel Nettles, had a previous violent episode of assault. He’d allegedly assaulted Kimberly Deshay Carter's sister and her mother in September and was out on bail when he murdered Kimberly and Officer Smith. He’d also allegedly phone harassed Miss Carter in August of 2010. Had Mr. Carter not been allowed to bond out on the assault charge, he’d not been able to return to the scene of another incident of domestic violence and murder two people.
Dominic Cinelli, the murderer of Officer John Maguire, died from a gunshot wound. Officer Maguire was shot four times during the foot chase to apprehend him. Scott Hanwright, Kevin Dingwell and Cinelli had allegedly robbed a Kohl’s Department Store. Dingwell was their getaway driver. Hanwright is charged with first-degree murder and Dingwell with accessory after the fact. Seems to me, Dingwell should not have the luxury of bonding out, but he has a very small bond set on him. Hanwright is being held without a bond. I am not aware at this time if Cinelli or his alleged coconspirators had previous arrest.
The murderer of Deputy Suzanne Hopper, Michael Ferryman, was killed at the scene. According to the news, it was stated he had a history with the sheriff's office. What that history is, I am unaware and do not know why he shot windows out the camper or opened fire on Deputy Hopper and Officer Blum. But I do know it’s frustrating that someone would commit such a senseless and deliberate cold-blooded murder. Since the gun battle and ensuing death and injury of Officer Blum, eight officers are on leave while the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation is investigating the shootings.
It’s sad that any officer dies on the job. Every time a police officer clocks in on duty, each traffic stop, each crime scene they respond to, each call they’re sent on, our officers are putting their life on the line. I’d call all the deceased officers and Officer Blum heroes. But I doubt if they’d consider themselves heroes. They’d likely say they were just doing their job, nothing more.
Officer Jillian Smith was the last officer killed in the line of duty in 2010 and Deputy Suzanne Hopper was the first officer killed in 2011. Sadly, before we celebrate another New Year, we will read of many more officers wounded or killed while on the job.
.
During 2010 the instance of police officers dying in the line of duty was up 37% from 2009 and previous years. This is not a stat to be proud of for sure. Our police are out in force daily defending us, helping us in times of need and put their life in the line of fire to protect innocent people from the vile among us who have no regard for human life. And sadly, police departments and sheriffs’ offices across the country are having to ‘downsize’ due to financial cutbacks.
Cop killings from the last week of 2010:
On December 26, 2010 in Woburn, Mass, Officer John Maguire was chasing two robbery suspects when he was shot four times. The suspect who fired the fatal shot, Dominic Cinelli, was also shot and killed. Two other suspects, the other robber and the getaway driver were apprehended later and charged accordingly. Officer Maguire was 60 and planned to retire in a year.
Monday, December 27, 2010 in Atlanta, Georgia, Trooper Chadwick LeCroy pulled over a car with its headlight out and exited his vehicle. The driver, Gregory Favors sped away and Trooper LeCroy gave a chase. Favors hit a mailbox during the chase and Trooper LeCroy approached the vehicle. As the Trooper reached the driver’s window, Favors fired a gun and shot him in the neck. Favors then left his vehicle with the gun still in his hand and tried to free the mailbox from his car but didn’t succeed. He then took Trooper LeCroy’s police unit and left the scene.
Tuesday, December 28, 2010, Officer Jillian Michelle Smith a 24-year-old policewoman was shot and killed. Officer Smith died protecting a 11-year-old girl from the shooter. The young girl survived but the shooter killed himself after shooting Officer Smith and Kimberly Carter. Officer Smith had gone to the apartment to take a report of domestic violence. The killer wasn’t there when she arrived but came back with the gun a few minutes after she arrived.
The First officer to die in 2011:
On January 1, 2011, I read of yet another officer dying in the line of duty and of a second officer being wounded. Reading those articles is not how I wanted to start my year.
Deputy Sheriff Suzanne Hopper was sent to a campground in Enon, Ohio to investigate a reporting of shots fired. Deputy Hopper noticed a camp trailer with a window shot out and discovered footprints. She was about to take photographs of the scene and footprints when gunfire erupted. Deputy Hopper died at the scene. A policeman, Officer Jeremy Blum, also at the scene, was hit in the shoulder by a shotgun blast. During the gun battle the shooter, Michael Ferryman was killed.
The shooters in the murders (and it was murder) of Officer Jillian Smith and Trooper Chadwick LeCroy had previous run-ins with the law. They had released Trooper LeCroy’s killer, Gregory Favors, from jail a short two weeks prior to the murder. He had 18 previous arrests. He’s in jail now, and charged with murder and aggravated assault on a law enforcement officer. When located, Mr. Favors was still wearing the same clothing he’d worn when killing Trooper Chadwick. He also had blood on his hands but explained it away by saying it was a fight with his girlfriend. I don’t think he’ll bond out this time. I certainly hope not anyway. I was angry that he’d use intimate partner violence as his excuse for blood on his hands! Officer Smith’s murderer, Barnes Samuel Nettles, had a previous violent episode of assault. He’d allegedly assaulted Kimberly Deshay Carter's sister and her mother in September and was out on bail when he murdered Kimberly and Officer Smith. He’d also allegedly phone harassed Miss Carter in August of 2010. Had Mr. Carter not been allowed to bond out on the assault charge, he’d not been able to return to the scene of another incident of domestic violence and murder two people.
Dominic Cinelli, the murderer of Officer John Maguire, died from a gunshot wound. Officer Maguire was shot four times during the foot chase to apprehend him. Scott Hanwright, Kevin Dingwell and Cinelli had allegedly robbed a Kohl’s Department Store. Dingwell was their getaway driver. Hanwright is charged with first-degree murder and Dingwell with accessory after the fact. Seems to me, Dingwell should not have the luxury of bonding out, but he has a very small bond set on him. Hanwright is being held without a bond. I am not aware at this time if Cinelli or his alleged coconspirators had previous arrest.
The murderer of Deputy Suzanne Hopper, Michael Ferryman, was killed at the scene. According to the news, it was stated he had a history with the sheriff's office. What that history is, I am unaware and do not know why he shot windows out the camper or opened fire on Deputy Hopper and Officer Blum. But I do know it’s frustrating that someone would commit such a senseless and deliberate cold-blooded murder. Since the gun battle and ensuing death and injury of Officer Blum, eight officers are on leave while the Ohio Bureau of Criminal Identification & Investigation is investigating the shootings.
It’s sad that any officer dies on the job. Every time a police officer clocks in on duty, each traffic stop, each crime scene they respond to, each call they’re sent on, our officers are putting their life on the line. I’d call all the deceased officers and Officer Blum heroes. But I doubt if they’d consider themselves heroes. They’d likely say they were just doing their job, nothing more.
Officer Jillian Smith was the last officer killed in the line of duty in 2010 and Deputy Suzanne Hopper was the first officer killed in 2011. Sadly, before we celebrate another New Year, we will read of many more officers wounded or killed while on the job.
Thursday, November 11, 2010
Danielle Santangelo's Death and the Accused Mom's Love, Blindness or Fear
Today, six words again make me wonder just how far a parent will go to stand beside their child. Those words are ‘in pain’ ‘bloody clothes’ and ‘a body’ and allegedly spoken by the mom of a suspect. I try hard not to speculate negatively on family members who stand beside a child accused of a violent crime, whether that child is an adult or teen. But I do sometimes have to wonder about how a parent can have knowledge, at least suspect an act of violence is in progress or has happened, and does nothing to stop it or call for help.
The more recent case that brings these thoughts to mind is the death of Danielle Santangelo in Volusia Co., Florida. All that is available to the public so far is what’s written in media articles and short news clips. And it is what they mention in those articles that have my brain working overtime. The question, ‘could have they saved Danielle?’ is tops in my thoughts. Monday, November 8, 2010, Danielle left her mother’s home driving her mom’s car and did not return. The police were contacted and over the next couple days searched for Danielle. On Wednesday Willie Hicks' mom allegedly contacted the police and reported she’d seen the missing woman’s car at her home on Monday and advised them of other events that took place. Mrs. Hicks was to have said on Monday she heard what sounded like a woman moaning as if she was ‘in pain’ inside Willie Hicks home. The media also reports her to have said later that same night she witnessed her son putting ‘bloody clothes’ in a burn barrel and set fire to them; also that Willie told her he had ‘a body in the red car and didn’t want her to look inside. My questions are why did she not call 911, do ‘anything’, when she heard a woman moaning like she was in pain? If she had, could Danielle's life been saved? Why did she not call police before her son drove away in the car after she saw him with bloody clothes? Did she wait until after she saw a news media announcement about Danielle missing along with a description of the car she was driving before contacting police? Why not call immediately after Willie said ‘a body’ was in the car?
We do not know the extent of Danielle’s injuries and exact cause of death and won’t know until after the autopsy. But Danielle was someone’s child too, just as Willie Hicks is Rose Hicks child. Did Danielle not deserve her consideration? Did Danielle not deserve help when she was heard moaning? If the articles I read on Danielle’s gone missing and alleged murder at www.wftv.com/news/index.html and www.myfoxorlando.com/ is factual, I wonder, is mom now questioning her own self? Was her lack of quick thinking and action a case of parental love, parental blindness or fear of her own child?
How Danielle and Willie allegedly came to be together that fateful night, how she allegedly came to be at his home is unknown at this time. Perhaps they were acquainted, she trusted him and willingly drove to his home. That doesn’t matter in the fact that she did not deserve to die. And for sure, she didn’t deserve to die, no one does, not in a violent way such as her death occurred.
If it’s a fact that information from Rose Hicks contributed to Danielle’s car and body being located, then I am thankful to her. I do not want to condemn Mrs. Hicks alleged non action and I do not condemn her. But, God gave me a brain and I use it with my ‘what ifs’ and other wondering. May God be with her as she deals with the alleged crime her son committed and her own wondering.
The more recent case that brings these thoughts to mind is the death of Danielle Santangelo in Volusia Co., Florida. All that is available to the public so far is what’s written in media articles and short news clips. And it is what they mention in those articles that have my brain working overtime. The question, ‘could have they saved Danielle?’ is tops in my thoughts. Monday, November 8, 2010, Danielle left her mother’s home driving her mom’s car and did not return. The police were contacted and over the next couple days searched for Danielle. On Wednesday Willie Hicks' mom allegedly contacted the police and reported she’d seen the missing woman’s car at her home on Monday and advised them of other events that took place. Mrs. Hicks was to have said on Monday she heard what sounded like a woman moaning as if she was ‘in pain’ inside Willie Hicks home. The media also reports her to have said later that same night she witnessed her son putting ‘bloody clothes’ in a burn barrel and set fire to them; also that Willie told her he had ‘a body in the red car and didn’t want her to look inside. My questions are why did she not call 911, do ‘anything’, when she heard a woman moaning like she was in pain? If she had, could Danielle's life been saved? Why did she not call police before her son drove away in the car after she saw him with bloody clothes? Did she wait until after she saw a news media announcement about Danielle missing along with a description of the car she was driving before contacting police? Why not call immediately after Willie said ‘a body’ was in the car?
We do not know the extent of Danielle’s injuries and exact cause of death and won’t know until after the autopsy. But Danielle was someone’s child too, just as Willie Hicks is Rose Hicks child. Did Danielle not deserve her consideration? Did Danielle not deserve help when she was heard moaning? If the articles I read on Danielle’s gone missing and alleged murder at www.wftv.com/news/index.html and www.myfoxorlando.com/ is factual, I wonder, is mom now questioning her own self? Was her lack of quick thinking and action a case of parental love, parental blindness or fear of her own child?
How Danielle and Willie allegedly came to be together that fateful night, how she allegedly came to be at his home is unknown at this time. Perhaps they were acquainted, she trusted him and willingly drove to his home. That doesn’t matter in the fact that she did not deserve to die. And for sure, she didn’t deserve to die, no one does, not in a violent way such as her death occurred.
If it’s a fact that information from Rose Hicks contributed to Danielle’s car and body being located, then I am thankful to her. I do not want to condemn Mrs. Hicks alleged non action and I do not condemn her. But, God gave me a brain and I use it with my ‘what ifs’ and other wondering. May God be with her as she deals with the alleged crime her son committed and her own wondering.
Friday, October 22, 2010
Sharon Worthy and The Death of Jesse F. Fisher, Jr. - Age 3
.
.
When I first wrote a very short piece on Jesse Fisher, Jr. back in April this year, I was so angry over his death that I couldn’t say much. Except to say he’d died and the killer made an excuse, mom did it. I’m still angry about his dying by the hands of torture but I do feel I can now write another piece to update.
Sharon Worthy moved in with Curtis Leon Copeland around March 25, 2010. She was due to give birth to her third child any day. I do not understand why she moved in with a known felon. She wasn’t supposed to associate with anyone with a felony record. Sharon was no stranger to CPS since they’d had several reports concerning Sharon and the children. Sadly, children protective services didn’t or couldn’t protect little Jesse from his fate. Back in 07 CPS had investigated her for child neglect and abuse of Jesse but found no neglect. Again in 09 they received a report of two children under her care and again found no reason to believe the report. In Dec of that same year someone made another report but CPS filed it as ‘unable to determine’. Then in early March 2010 physical abuse was reported and CPS was still ‘investigating’ that report when Jesse died.
Perhaps CPS and the abuse charges were why she moved from Bowie, TX to Sanger, TX to live with Curtis - who knows. What I do know is she had many living relatives she could’ve left both Jesse and his one-year-old sibling with while she gave birth to her third child. Sharon is barely 21 and was 20 when they rushed Jesse, barely living, and bleeding from his nose and ears to the hospital. None of her three children have the same father. Jesse’s father Jesse Fisher, Sr was allegedly in prison.
On March 30, 2010, Sharon went to the hospital to give birth to her third son and later that same day, a 911 call was made concerning Jesse, Jr.. Curtis Copeland had told a neighbor that Jesse had fainted and asked her to make the call. When paramedics arrived, he was unconscious and bleeding. Later it was determined he had a broken pelvis and broken thoracic vertebrae, and severe head trauma. An examination also showed sexual abuse. Mr. Copeland tried saying when Sharon brought Jesse to his home she’d made a statement that he’d fallen down stairs. He also said Jesse had a bruised eye and other bruising and a bump on the head. Sharon told LE she’d witnessed Curtis slap Jesse so hard it knocked him down but admitted that she didn’t seek medical attention for him.
While Jesse was hospitalized, a social worker was in his room with Sharon and she allegedly stated that at no time did Sharon shed a tear or seem to be genuinely concerned for her son’s welfare. Allegedly, children services is attempting to remove Sharon Worthy’s and both father’s rights to her two living sons. I hope that happens. Curtis Copeland is allegedly not a father to any of Sharon’s children.
They charged Curtis Copeland with murder and Sharon Nicole Worthy with reckless injury to a child.
.
When I first wrote a very short piece on Jesse Fisher, Jr. back in April this year, I was so angry over his death that I couldn’t say much. Except to say he’d died and the killer made an excuse, mom did it. I’m still angry about his dying by the hands of torture but I do feel I can now write another piece to update.
Sharon Worthy moved in with Curtis Leon Copeland around March 25, 2010. She was due to give birth to her third child any day. I do not understand why she moved in with a known felon. She wasn’t supposed to associate with anyone with a felony record. Sharon was no stranger to CPS since they’d had several reports concerning Sharon and the children. Sadly, children protective services didn’t or couldn’t protect little Jesse from his fate. Back in 07 CPS had investigated her for child neglect and abuse of Jesse but found no neglect. Again in 09 they received a report of two children under her care and again found no reason to believe the report. In Dec of that same year someone made another report but CPS filed it as ‘unable to determine’. Then in early March 2010 physical abuse was reported and CPS was still ‘investigating’ that report when Jesse died.
Perhaps CPS and the abuse charges were why she moved from Bowie, TX to Sanger, TX to live with Curtis - who knows. What I do know is she had many living relatives she could’ve left both Jesse and his one-year-old sibling with while she gave birth to her third child. Sharon is barely 21 and was 20 when they rushed Jesse, barely living, and bleeding from his nose and ears to the hospital. None of her three children have the same father. Jesse’s father Jesse Fisher, Sr was allegedly in prison.
On March 30, 2010, Sharon went to the hospital to give birth to her third son and later that same day, a 911 call was made concerning Jesse, Jr.. Curtis Copeland had told a neighbor that Jesse had fainted and asked her to make the call. When paramedics arrived, he was unconscious and bleeding. Later it was determined he had a broken pelvis and broken thoracic vertebrae, and severe head trauma. An examination also showed sexual abuse. Mr. Copeland tried saying when Sharon brought Jesse to his home she’d made a statement that he’d fallen down stairs. He also said Jesse had a bruised eye and other bruising and a bump on the head. Sharon told LE she’d witnessed Curtis slap Jesse so hard it knocked him down but admitted that she didn’t seek medical attention for him.
While Jesse was hospitalized, a social worker was in his room with Sharon and she allegedly stated that at no time did Sharon shed a tear or seem to be genuinely concerned for her son’s welfare. Allegedly, children services is attempting to remove Sharon Worthy’s and both father’s rights to her two living sons. I hope that happens. Curtis Copeland is allegedly not a father to any of Sharon’s children.
They charged Curtis Copeland with murder and Sharon Nicole Worthy with reckless injury to a child.
Monday, October 4, 2010
Has Shock Worn Off - Or Are Anger and Shock Related?
.
.
Sometimes my thoughts on the crime news events go quiet; I can't express my feelings of all I read and hear. No words of distress over the events are enough because I feel nothing is left to say. Only the continual 'why' plagues me and the tears in my heart for victims is all I can feel. I worry that if shock and anger are similar, does that mean the killers and attackers have a real excuse for their crimes? What is the difference in us feeling anger with them for doing the crime and theirs when they committed the act? Is the answer so simple that explanation is, ‘but we don’t act on our anger and they did?’
These murders, suicides and attacks of family on family, friends on friends, spouse on spouse appears to be to much to comprehend. Still, I sometimes feel my shock with it all is missing and that is sad; yet at the same time, I do feel anger and frustration. From the more recent suicide of a young New Jersey college student, to the Lester Street slaughter of a family in TN back in 2008 and alleged death of Stacy Peterson at the hands of her cop husband in 2007, the killings are egregious and horrific. I felt anger, and cried silent tears when reading about them.
I keep wondering how anyone can become so pathologically narcissistic that a child's life is worth nothing more to them than the trash a local sanitation department collects on a weekly basis. People like the Susan Smiths’ of the world who gave the life of her two sons to God because she wanted more in her personal life: a man who didn't want children. And the like of the alleged killer, Casey Anthony, who allegedly duct-taped and threw her beautiful daughter in a trash bag; then dumped her body in a woody area that’s filled with filthy water for months at a time. It's incomprehensible that parents like Joseph and Sonya Smith could beat and torture a beautiful son because he was too noisy and wouldn't quietly participate in bible study - Spare the rod! I can't close my eyes and pray for the missing to be found without seeing the beautiful face of Jaliek Rainwalker and wonder if suspicions of his stepfather being a killer will ever be found as a truth. I can’t help but see the special face, shadowed by one of her hats, of Lindsey Baum and feel tears in my heart for her. Or without the beautiful smile of Kyron Horman floating before my eyes and wondering if his stepmother really is responsible for his being somewhere feeling lonely and scared without his father and biological mother. I wonder, is he dead too, like Caylee? Is Haleigh Cummings dead? I can't help my thought that both are now in God's home and in the loving arms of Angels.
I worry because I now wonder if its shock I feel when I read of a murder at the hands of a parent or spouse or if I’ve become immune to being shocked. I worry because when I read of a new intimate partner beating, the emotions I have only feel like anger for the victim and ‘at the perpetrator’ that the atrocious act happened. I do actually admire defense attorneys who can stand before a judge and jury and battle for the most vile of the accused. I know it’s their job; the accused have rights to a fair trial. Still, I don’t have to like what they say and do and usually I don’t like it. I admit I sometimes want to reach out and slap some defense attorney at times; slap them ‘for the victim.’ Because it appears, they are making the victim the bad person.
Sometimes I want to scream out at the justice system for placing a bond on some individuals. One example of the need to scream out is a recent horrific attack on a woman in Mississippi. Freda Wilkerson was so severely beaten that she underwent immediate surgery to repair the wounds and she’ll need more surgery in the future. The attacker, her boyfriend, had left her where she lay, bruised, bleeding and broken and he ran. He was eventually located and charged with aggravated domestic violence but only placed under a $10,000 bond. Outrage seeped into the victim’s heart, and mine also when reading of such a low bond. She said they had placed a small price on her life, fear gripped her and her children that Bobbie Stewart would bond out and come after them. She was right to feel that fear to me. Fortunately the DA agreed and had a higher bond of $50,000 placed on Stewart. I still feel that amount isn’t enough either. No amount is enough for a person who so horrifically beats another human being and leaves them mangled and scared for their life, without help. But if Freda vocalizing her anger helps the police understand victims’ fears and points of view in the future then expressing her anger will not have been for naught.
I wonder, are the anger and frustration I feel with all these beatings, drive by shootings where innocents die (and not the person intended), spouse murders, girlfriend-boyfriend murders, and other tragic criminal activities the same as feeling shock that such an event can still happen? Even if it is the same, I still can’t help but wonder ‘why?’... Why haven’t we, in this day and age of high technology, found a way to come together as one species - the human race - and show respect for each other?
.
Sometimes my thoughts on the crime news events go quiet; I can't express my feelings of all I read and hear. No words of distress over the events are enough because I feel nothing is left to say. Only the continual 'why' plagues me and the tears in my heart for victims is all I can feel. I worry that if shock and anger are similar, does that mean the killers and attackers have a real excuse for their crimes? What is the difference in us feeling anger with them for doing the crime and theirs when they committed the act? Is the answer so simple that explanation is, ‘but we don’t act on our anger and they did?’
These murders, suicides and attacks of family on family, friends on friends, spouse on spouse appears to be to much to comprehend. Still, I sometimes feel my shock with it all is missing and that is sad; yet at the same time, I do feel anger and frustration. From the more recent suicide of a young New Jersey college student, to the Lester Street slaughter of a family in TN back in 2008 and alleged death of Stacy Peterson at the hands of her cop husband in 2007, the killings are egregious and horrific. I felt anger, and cried silent tears when reading about them.
I keep wondering how anyone can become so pathologically narcissistic that a child's life is worth nothing more to them than the trash a local sanitation department collects on a weekly basis. People like the Susan Smiths’ of the world who gave the life of her two sons to God because she wanted more in her personal life: a man who didn't want children. And the like of the alleged killer, Casey Anthony, who allegedly duct-taped and threw her beautiful daughter in a trash bag; then dumped her body in a woody area that’s filled with filthy water for months at a time. It's incomprehensible that parents like Joseph and Sonya Smith could beat and torture a beautiful son because he was too noisy and wouldn't quietly participate in bible study - Spare the rod! I can't close my eyes and pray for the missing to be found without seeing the beautiful face of Jaliek Rainwalker and wonder if suspicions of his stepfather being a killer will ever be found as a truth. I can’t help but see the special face, shadowed by one of her hats, of Lindsey Baum and feel tears in my heart for her. Or without the beautiful smile of Kyron Horman floating before my eyes and wondering if his stepmother really is responsible for his being somewhere feeling lonely and scared without his father and biological mother. I wonder, is he dead too, like Caylee? Is Haleigh Cummings dead? I can't help my thought that both are now in God's home and in the loving arms of Angels.
I worry because I now wonder if its shock I feel when I read of a murder at the hands of a parent or spouse or if I’ve become immune to being shocked. I worry because when I read of a new intimate partner beating, the emotions I have only feel like anger for the victim and ‘at the perpetrator’ that the atrocious act happened. I do actually admire defense attorneys who can stand before a judge and jury and battle for the most vile of the accused. I know it’s their job; the accused have rights to a fair trial. Still, I don’t have to like what they say and do and usually I don’t like it. I admit I sometimes want to reach out and slap some defense attorney at times; slap them ‘for the victim.’ Because it appears, they are making the victim the bad person.
Sometimes I want to scream out at the justice system for placing a bond on some individuals. One example of the need to scream out is a recent horrific attack on a woman in Mississippi. Freda Wilkerson was so severely beaten that she underwent immediate surgery to repair the wounds and she’ll need more surgery in the future. The attacker, her boyfriend, had left her where she lay, bruised, bleeding and broken and he ran. He was eventually located and charged with aggravated domestic violence but only placed under a $10,000 bond. Outrage seeped into the victim’s heart, and mine also when reading of such a low bond. She said they had placed a small price on her life, fear gripped her and her children that Bobbie Stewart would bond out and come after them. She was right to feel that fear to me. Fortunately the DA agreed and had a higher bond of $50,000 placed on Stewart. I still feel that amount isn’t enough either. No amount is enough for a person who so horrifically beats another human being and leaves them mangled and scared for their life, without help. But if Freda vocalizing her anger helps the police understand victims’ fears and points of view in the future then expressing her anger will not have been for naught.
I wonder, are the anger and frustration I feel with all these beatings, drive by shootings where innocents die (and not the person intended), spouse murders, girlfriend-boyfriend murders, and other tragic criminal activities the same as feeling shock that such an event can still happen? Even if it is the same, I still can’t help but wonder ‘why?’... Why haven’t we, in this day and age of high technology, found a way to come together as one species - the human race - and show respect for each other?
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)