Truthdig - Reports - When Did the Victim Become the Murderer?

Truthdig - Reports - When Did the Victim Become the Murderer?: "WASHINGTON—Why do you suppose so many people were so quick to blame Sean Taylor for his own murder? Relax, that’s a rhetorical question. There’s no need for self-exculpatory huffing and puffing, no need to point out that the verdict of suicide-by-bad-attitude—pronounced so often this week, and so coldly—was usually couched in broad hints or softened by the nebulous fog of the conditional mood. Everyone knew what was really being said, and everyone knew why. Taylor instantly became not a person but a character, one whose purpose was to advance a narrative about young black men and their manifold failings. Taylor, a gifted defensive back for the Washington Redskins, had been in trouble with the law. Despite the millions he earned playing football, he never managed to escape the quicksand lure of the mean streets—parasitic friends, envious haters, a culture of casual violence. It was his decision to swim in this cesspool of dysfunction, the narrative said. And, like so many other young black men who have made the same wrong choice, he paid for it with his life."

Officer stuns pregnant woman with Taser

Officer stuns pregnant woman with Taser


TROTWOOD, Ohio, Nov. 29 The FBI is reportedly investigating an Ohio police officer's use of a Taser on a pregnant woman.Michael Etter, public safety director in Trotwood, said the officer did not realize the woman was pregnant, WHIO-TV in Akron reported.Etter said the woman came to the police department Nov. 18 trying to hand over custody of her 1-year-old son. She became agitated and tried to leave with the boy, at which point the officer decided he had to stop her for the child's safety.The woman was wearing a heavy coat and held her son on her lap while she talked to the officer, Etter said. He added she did not say anything about being pregnant even after she was arrested.

The Black Commentator - Black America's Legacy of Struggle

The Black Commentator - November 29, 2007 - Issue 255: "Life is struggle. Shirk it and lose it. Embrace it and most assuredly fulfill it. What does Black America’s legacy of political struggle really mean? In succinct terms, it refers to the enormous sacrifices, both personal and collective, made by those men, women and children who endeavored to further the cause of economic, social, and political equality, justice, and freedom, particularly with respect to Black Americans and our Red and Brown sisters and brothers."

With case unsolved, family searches for closure
Slain woman's family seeks closure, justice
By Tara Malone, Tribune staff reporter
November 26, 2007


Stuffed animals, rose bouquets and blue signs reading "It's a boy!" ringed a tree in the dusty abandoned lot Sunday, reminding nearly four dozen family and friends who gathered in the cold of their double loss here earlier this month.Theresa Bunn, 21 -- eight months' pregnant with her first child, a son relatives said she planned to name Michael Pierre Terry Bunn -- was found strangled and burned in a garbage bin nearly two weeks ago along the 6100 block of South Prairie Avenue, the first of two women killed in a similarly grisly manner near Washington Park this month.Bunn's killer remains at large. Chicago police officials continue to investigate the slayings of Bunn and Hazel Lewis, 52, who was found strangled and burned Nov. 14 in another trash bin behind an elementary school near her home. Investigators have not found evidence linking the two slayings, Officer John Henry said Sunday.


Related links
Family and friends remember a pregnant woman who was killed, burned Video
Murder victim's kin seek closure Photo
Family remembers 2nd burn victim as giving


Because Bunn's body was so badly burned that it was identified only through dental records, her family decided to forgo a formal funeral and instead hold a vigil where Bunn's charred remains were found. They came searching for some sense of closure."To me, this is her last place," said Anthony McCray, Bunn's father. "It shouldn't be here. They took our baby and burned her like she was garbage."Many extended condolences to Lewis' family, saying they know too well the grief the Bronzeville woman's relatives must feel.

The vigil came a day after Bunn's memorial service, and relatives, friends and neighbors laid flowers, a music box topped with a ballerina and nearly two dozen stuffed bears around a tree in the center of the lot. Some wore T-shirts emblazoned with a picture of Bunn smiling. Others paused before a framed, poster-size picture that, like a tombstone, listed her full name -- Theresa Marie Bunn -- and the dates of her birth and death. Many carried balloons that they let loose together, with red and blue filling the sky."That's Theresa's tree from here on out," said Bunn's cousin Chris Hogan, who wore a T-shirt that on the back read, "Rest in Peace, Baby Boy Mike."Photographs from her days at Englewood High School are stored away, McCray said, unable to offer any comfort yet. Her bedroom remains untouched. Her 19-year-old brother, also named Anthony McCray, still comes home expecting to gab with his sister, the eldest of five siblings, whom friends remember as quick to lift everyone's spirits. Bunn's youngest brother, Michael, 14, for whom she planned to name her son, tries to escape the reminder of her loss in his schoolwork.

Until Bunn's assailant is arrested, charged and put behind bars, relatives said, any closure will remain elusive."This didn't even ease the pain," said Rose Marie Williams, Bunn's aunt. "We were expecting a baby next month and we don't have [anything]."Bunn's son would have been the family's first grandchild, McCray said.Police said Bunn was last seen Nov. 12. She told family members she was going shopping either in Chicago or Evergreen Park. Her mother worried that a mental condition she had might have left her confused.

Bunn's body was discovered just before midnight that day.Her relatives urge anyone who might have seen or heard anything suspicious to contact police. Apartment buildings surround the lot."This time it's our daughter. But it could be your daughter, your niece, your mother," McCray said."We, as a community, need to help each other."Tribune staff reporter Megan Twohey contributed to this report
tmalone@tribune.com
More articles

Baby Grace Identified and Serial Killings In

Thanks, Ann.

Here are two articles concerning murdered and missing women and girls:

http://kathmanduk2.wordpress.com/2007/11/25/baby-grace-identified/#comments

THE SERIAL KILLINGS OF ACRES HOMES

http://kathmanduk2.wordpress.com/2007/11/25/the-serial-killings-of-acres-homes/

A very chilling report on violence against Native American women in the US and Canada

http://kathmanduk2.wordpress.com/2007/11/25/rape-of-native-american-women-uninvestigated/


Thank you Ann for keeping me abreast regarding violence against women of Color around the world. This needs to be addressed.

About those other women ...

About those other women ...
November 21, 2007

We're in Week Two of an all-out national dragnet for missing Bolingbrook woman Stacy Peterson. And now a fresh national media frenzy has swarmed over a Glendale Heights family, the second Indian family from DuPage County this year where children were doused with gas and burned.

Yet we hardly hear a mention of the cases of two women whose charred bodies were found on the South Side: Theresa Bunn, a 21-year-old black woman, and another woman, believed to be 30-50 years, were discovered in ashes in garbage containers near Washington Park in the Woodlawn community. Bunn was last seen Nov. 12. The unidentified middle-aged woman -- whose remains were too damaged to determine race -- was discovered Nov. 14.

And in between those grisly finds, a 14-year-old black girl, Deanna Glass, from Bronzeville, disappeared.

"It definitely symbolizes something to whomever committed these grotesque acts that [the burned women] were thought of as trash," said Delilah McDonald, a 20-year-old student, while waiting for a Cottage Grove bus with a male escort for her safety.

How is it that we know so much about the Peterson family and their Jerry Springer-like story arc and yet we know virtually nothing about these other missing women, believed to be all black on the South Side? We don't even know who killed Nailah Franklin, the 28-year-old black woman whose body was found in a Calumet City forest preserve in September.
Stacy Peterson had plenty of reasons to rethink her choices and escape to start anew. If some tragedy has befallen her, let's hope authorities can find her quickly.

But what about the burned women and the missing teen? These were not run-of-the-mill murders -- if there is such a category. Not only was Bunn strangled and burned, she also was eight months pregnant. That means her baby boy, to be named Michael, was murdered, too. Police have no clue who the second burned woman is. And there's nothing about Deanna that would suggest she would run away. She's described as an A-student and no-nonsense girl. Deanna's mother, Gail Glass, last saw her daughter while she was in the hospital and now has the onerous task of gathering Deanna's dental records in case police find a body. Police have distributed community alerts to solicit residents' assistance in these cases.
We hate to even bring this up, but could a serial killer be on the loose? Two women burned, a third girl missing on the same side of town. We aren't the first to suggest these incidents might be connected.

"We don't think we have enough to classify this as a serial killer," said Monique Bond, Chicago Police Department spokeswoman.

Many Woodlawn women are resigned to the fact that heinous crimes in their neighborhood don't necessarily generate big headlines. They are used to seeing white women publicly elevated when something happens, and Peterson and her prosaic life are no different.
"I'm afraid for my daughter," said Camille Fairman, 32, who's given her own teen daughter orders to stay in a group and to call home for a ride after dark. "I told her to scream, kick or try to do something like that to put up a fight."

Several years ago a serial killer on the South Side was knocking off prostitutes and leaving them in abandoned buildings. Their deaths didn't make the front page until someone connected the pattern.

We shouldn't put a value on life in certain neighborhoods. If these two women were found burned to death in Lincoln Park, there'd be a task force formed by now. That Woodlawn is just a stone's throw from our celebrated University of Chicago and the planned site for the 2016 Olympics shouldn't matter, but if that's what it takes to generate some outrage, so be it.

Burned woman was mother of three
SOUTH SIDE Body of 2nd victim identified, family gets the news
BY ANNIE SWEENEY Staff Reporter/asweeney@suntimes.com

Authorities have identified the second of two women found strangled and burned in South Side garbage containers last week.

Hazel Lewis, 52, was identified by dental records Friday afternoon, according to Chicago Police.
Reached Friday, Lewis' family said relatives had received the news and were gathering together. Lewis, her family said, was the mother of three children.
"She was a great mother," said her daughter, who declined to give her name.

The daughter said the family had no information as to what could have happened to her mother.
"We didn't know anything until the detectives contacted us," she said.

Lewis' body was found Nov. 14 in the 800 block of East 50th Street.
The gruesome discovery came two days after the body of another African-American woman was found on the South Side. The body of Theresa Bunn, 21, who was eight months pregnant, had been found in the 6100 block of South Prairie.

Both murders remain under investigation, with detectives trying to determine if they are related.

Theresa Bunn

Theresa Bunn, R.I.P.

Cops Identify Burned Body Of Pregnant Woman

Police Flock In After 2 Strangled, Charred Bodies Found Near Each Other On South Side

CHICAGO (CBS) ― Police late Thursday afternoon identified one of the two women found strangled and burned on the South Side. The family was holding out hope it was not their loved one. As CBS 2's Rafael Romo reports, 21-year-old Theresa Bunn had been missing since Monday, when she told her mother she was meeting a friend at the mall. "She never did make it," Bunn's mother, Rosemary Williams said Wednesday night. "She said she was going to call us about eight o'clock. She never did call. So I haven't heard nothing from her or seen her." Chicago police confirmed Thursday afternoon Bunn's body is the one found in a dumpster in a vacant lot near 61st Street and Prairie Avenue on Monday, just before midnight.

"Theresa Bunn's family was contacted by detectives from our special victim's unit yesterday," said Deputy Chief Michael Shields of the Detective Division. Police say the body was burned beyond recognition. Detectives had to use dental records to positively identify the victim, who was eight months pregnant. "She was just staying here [at home], living with me and trying to go through her pregnancy," Williams said of her daughter. Williams said her daughter was expecting a boy, whom she planned to name Michael after her younger brother.

The body of a second woman found about 1 a.m. Tuesday in a dumpster behind Reavis Elementary, 834 E. 60th St., remains unidentified. "There are common denominators in both of the homicides in that both of the victims were found strangled and both of the victims were found burnt beyond recognition," Shields said.

A roll call for officers of the Third and 21st Districts was conducted Thursday morning at 61st Street and Prairie Avenue, where Bunn's body was found. As police conducted roll call near the Prairie Avenue location, a commanding officer instructed his subordinates to go door to door and ask if anyone had seen anything, and show them a flier they are distributing about the cases. They hope to solve the macabre double mystery. Police have yet to link the two cases due to lack of forensic evidence. "It's a concern for every woman that something like this happened in the area," said area resident Henrietta Limehouse. "You know, you're very concerned, very worried, because I have to walk the streets myself." Police say they have been talking to other people who have missing relatives in an effort to identify the second body.

Detectives collected several items as evidence at the site where the body was found, but so far they have no suspects. There is no description of a suspect. Anyone with information on either of the cases is urged to call police.

Dear Mr. Jesus

Japan Today - News - New York police kill teenager armed with hairbrush

Japan Today - News - New York police kill teenager armed with hairbrush: "NEW YORK — New York police shot and killed an 18-year-old youth armed with only a hairbrush, U.S. media reported Tuesday. Khiel Coppin was shot late Monday after a violent confrontation with his mother, who had called police for help, according to The New York Times. While she was on the phone, Coppin screamed that he had a gun and was going to kill her, the paper said. When police arrived, Coppin had jumped out of a ground-floor window with something in his hand and was shot by officers on the street."

Sherrice Iverson - 1989-1997

Sherrice Iverson was a 7 year old whose life was taken in a senseless murder in 1997 in a casino. The thief who stole her life and innocence was tried on Court TV. The lesson here is that we MUST watch over our children with vigilence. "The thief cometh not, but for to steal, and to kill, and to destroy..." (John 10:10). Sherrice, we love you and will see you again. Love forever -

Memphis battling infant death epidemic - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com

Memphis battling infant death epidemic - Kids and parenting- msnbc.com: "Twice the U.S. average A 2002 federal report put this city at the top of the list for infant deaths in American cities: 692 dead babies over a four-year span, a rate of more than 15 deaths for every 1,000 births, more than twice the U.S. average. Broken down by ZIP code, centering on the poorest places in this very poor city, there are spots where babies die at a higher rate than they do in some Third World countries. Some health officials object to that characterization because the figures are small enough to call their statistical significance into question. But no one denies that there is an epidemic of dead babies here."