Senseless

This incident involving the 15 year old boy that threw the brick off an overpass and killed a 26 year old Peoria woman has had me really fighting feelings inside me. I know this is just another horrific crime to happen in Peoria what with a spate of recent shootings we have had to endure over the last year. Ironically this turns out to be another black on black crime since both the perp and the victim are both black. I wondered how I would relieve the pressure built up inside of me and relate how I felt about this particular crime on paper or in this case, my blog. I wondered how I would do this without sounding like a racist or like I was a bigot or both. I can't understand why I have to write about this when so many other incidents have happen here and yet this one crime has lit a fire inside of me. If you are reading this, then you are probably a local person in the area who reads other blogs and the PJS online. The one thing I have noticed while reading around the local blogs that no one is blogging too much on this crime other than to report what has been reported in the paper or on TV. One blogger even wrote that he wasn't even going to comment on this crime and did it in a very classy way. There have been some heavy comments from many people and on the PJS web site some of these comments have been downright hateful to say the least. That is easy to do when you can hide behind an internet typewriter and can't be held accountable for your words. So, without making this longer than a Harry Potter novel and knowing my real name is on this blog, how do I expel my feelings?

The fact that both people in this incident were black makes no difference in my opinion. I am sure white kids have thrown rocks off of overpasses too. What makes this so hard is that the youth the police arrested is only 15. If the courts go the way they do for people that don't have the money like OJ for an attorney, there is a good chance this young man's life as he knows it is over. I saw his mother on WHOI News tonight and she could not keep herself from crying defending her son, telling the reporter that her son had a medical condition that made things hard for him but that he was in school and was doing well. She admitted that he had been in trouble before with the police and that too also stemmed from the mental disorders she said her son suffers from. This all could be true and with today's medical care being what it is, most know that to get treatment for conditions is nearly impossible if you are uninsured and poor which both go hand in hand. While people complain that a certain segment of our society enjoys free health care via public aid, this "free" health care is not all that great. I know I wouldn't want to have to depend upon it for my life. Just visit any of our local emergency rooms at midnight and you'll see what I mean. These rooms are used by the poorest segment to get treatment for their children that you and I might wait and visit our family doctor for. It is no picnic.

Then, to my surprise, the reporter for WHOI said that according to the boy's mother, the youth was grounded and he had snuck out for the night without her knowledge. That threw me back as of all the comments I have been reading on the blogs and on the PJS that had to be the number 1 criticism of the mother. "What's a boy at 15 doing out at 1am?" A valid question to be sure but so many people, including myself at times, had to wonder what kind of mother or parents this kid had to allow him and his friends to run the streets at 1am. Hell, they were even blaming the police for not arresting every kid out past midnight. Something that is physically impossible but blaming them none the less. I thought, what if this mother is telling the truth. What if this mother was trying to raise the boy she loves and was having a tough time of it? I mean, Christ, I have boys and if something happened to them or they did something like this boy did, I would be devastated. In this I can truly relate how she feels. After all, if you think about it, she is probably also the product of being raised by a single parent as was her mother all living from week to week on whatever aid or meager jobs they could get. Not everyone is a thug.

I wondered too about the victim in this. The nightmare the driver must live with. He must have thoughts racing through his mind like maybe I should have taken a different route that night or maybe if I wasn't 5 minutes late picking her up or leaving. We will never really know. The family of this young woman is as devastated by this crime as the mother of the youth that did it. They will never be able to see their daughter again and her friends will never be able to see her either. I really feel for her family. I couldn't possibly understand what they are going through and hope I never have to.

This got me to thinking that what good if any can come from this? I mean, unless the State's Attorney pooches this and unless the mother can find a large sum of money for her son's defense, chances are this kid is going away for a long time if not for life. Some think this is what he deserves and I tend to agree. I remember being 15 and at that age you know everything. I have tattoos proving that. What a know nothing punk I was but I was lucky. I saw the light and changed my ways years ago. I thank the military for that in some respects as I can't really thank my parents. They were too busy getting drunk and divorcing their various husbands and wives. I can relate to how this kid may have no idea that dropping a rock off an overpass would lead to a death. Just like kids don't realize that speeding around a curve may lead to a crash and to death. I mean being exposed to a lifestyle many black kids are exposed to all the time, he probably knew that if he aimed a gun at the car, someone may die but dropping a rock? Hey, all they would do is dent a car. I can see that but many people, or at least the people posting comments on blogs don't. It's like the old west, most people want this kid hung and even some suggested that they drop him off the same overpass at rush hour.

You know, you grow up, maybe marry and have a few kids. You love your kids and you try to make it better for them than it was for you. I was lucky, I did that for my kids but not everyone has those opportunities to do that nor do they have the education to make a good living. It is hard to work maybe 3 jobs at minimum wage and still be a parent that can be involved in all the aspects of their kids. This incident made me realize that. In our poorer segment of our city, it is tough to do just that. People do it and they do raise their children to be good in school and go on to succeed in life but many don't and this is what happens to some. We are so harden by the shootings that happen that some of us just shrug it off when we read about them. I mean they seem to happen weekly. This is different. This mother, no matter what you think about her and her son, lives have changed forever. I thought that if anything good was to come of this maybe this suggestion would be it. I would like to see the mother visit the middle schools and even the high schools in this area and tell this story. Show some pictures of her son, his awards from school for being on the honor roll and show how beautiful this young woman that died was. Show how one minute she was on her way someplace and the next she was dead. Show how this young man was maybe going to the fair that weekend and now he is behind bars. Show how this affected the families on all sides. No need to show the blood or the smashed windshield. Just show the after effects of this tragedy and how one little bit of what would seem like a fun prank will change your life forever. These kids can see all the gore they want and rap music has glorified gang style shootings making them seem sterile and easy. They show victims lying in their blood and yet these images don't seem to strike home. I feel maybe if another approach was taken that showed what the payment was for your actions, this may keep one kid from following along and maybe, just maybe this would prevent another stupid wasteful crime like this. Most kids can relate to their mother and seeing a mother that is heartbroken and suffering may open their eyes. I also think this is where the black community leaders should stand up and take this situation and act on it in a positive way so other kids don't end up in adult court facing murder charges and other mothers don't have to cry their eyes out on TV defending their kid's actions. They could produce a program for this mother to use and also use this to talk directly to the youth in their churches. These kids obviously need a father figure in their lives and that is the only other thing that bothers me is the lack of any news on the father and his reactions but then, as I have come to realize, I don't know everything. This would be much better than another vigil march or a prayer meeting.

If you have kids, hug them and tell them you love them. This whole affair is such a tragedy and to me could have happened to anyone no matter what social economic ladder or race you come from. I'm sorry I have nothing funny to say. I'm going now to spend some extra time with my boys.