Murder She Said...

Last week two teen age boys broke into their neighbors house to steal her XBox. They bludgeoned her to death and are now facing charges as adults for their actions. They cut the phone wires and the electricity, used a ladder to get in the house, killed her, and then went back two more times while she was lying there to get a safe with a jar of coins in it and to take the ladder back.

This incident has caused a huge rift in our city. On the one side are those who know these kids and know they are truly the product of their environment. The parents of both of these kids are either in prison now or have rap sheets a mile long. On the other side, you have the those who can't take any of that into view and have already tried and sentenced these two. Our Chief of Police is among those which is turning this into a racial issue too. Some say "they killed a white woman so they won't get a fair trial" and others say "it doesn't matter what their circumstances are, they should rot in hell". And the sad truth is...I can see both sides.

Kenosha is largely a racially mixed city which has always had a history of merely living with illusion of racial harmony. In the past, any manner of criminal incidents have occurred which could be traced back to a black/white issue. It's an underlying current that goes largely unspoken until someone gets killed. Then it becomes the focus. And I think that is terribly wrong.

I see the lost humanity in this tragic murder. The victim and her family obviously have suffered the brunt of this heinous act. There is also the humanity of the boys who did this. Their back story reads like a text book description of emotionally and morally stunted human development. Yet, I concede that they acted in cold blood and knew exactly what they were doing. This wasn't a chance happening. They weren't surprised the woman was home. She didn't "come upon" them as they burgled her home. She was asleep in bed when they killed her and covered her body with a folding cot.
But we have all been affected by this and every other crime like this. It weakens us, taxes our resolve and hardens us to the world. It polarizes neighbors and creates tension in the community.

My heart goes out to all the victims in this scene - both living and dead.