There are seven days left in this year and it can’t end soon enough for me. It seems I have spent much of my time on assignment this year standing behind crime scene tape watching the various tragedies unfold.
With only a few days left in the year I was called out to the city’s fifth homicide where a man on his 21st birthday was shot in the chest, dying three hours later at a local hospital. It has been a year of violence that has put our community in the grip of fear and anger.
Standing outside the courtroom waiting to enter to photograph the arraignment for the latest murder suspects a woman noticing my press pass and camera gear asked me “Come here often?” “I do this year” I replied. The courtroom scenes have ranged from near circus like to tense drama as the parade of accused passed before me.
In all the crime stories the hardest aspect has been the human suffering. Grieving family and friends gathered at candlelight vigils in hope of finding comfort. Press conferences and public meeting to allay fears, the stories never seem to end. Too many lives have been lost and changed forever. The grief and heartache is a sign of our times and a mark of our violent times.
It has been a year of crime like no other I can remember in this town and hopefully this wave or anger and hate will ebb away in the coming year.
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