Before I begin: we (fortunately) weren't impacted by the New York/New England flooding, although the area where my spouse grew up was. My heart goes out to those in the areas impacted by the terrible flash flooding.
On November 6, 2021, I blogged the following post. Today, where are we?
And then, in 2022, I blogged this:I am in mourning today, for a town in Iowa I haven't been to in almost twenty years, for a high school that three of my first cousins went to, and for a teacher I never met.
Last night, we turned on the 6:30 pm national news and one of the headlines was about a murder in Iowa. When I saw a picture of a park entrance I knew exactly where it was.
My heart sank. I used to have family in that city of about 9,700 people. I lived there for a brief time and had walked in that park with my uncle several times, back in the 1970's.
A 66 year old Spanish teacher at the high school in Fairfield, Iowa, had been reported as missing on Wednesday morning. She had taught in that school since 2012. Her body was then found, later that day, in a local park where she loved to walk in the afternoons. Now, two high school students, both 16, are being charged in her death.
Apparently, they had discussed her murder on social media. They are being charged as adults.
A couple posts I've written about Fairfield.
Why I Didn't Become a Librarian
The Fairfield I remember was - how can I put it? Different? Original? I don't remember it as a place where you had to be afraid.
People think of Iowa as a flat place with miles of cornfields and nothing much. That's far from the truth, although there is lots of corn grown in Iowa and some parts are flat. But there are also a lot of surprises in Iowa. And, yes, hidden gems.
In our pandemic times, there is an upsurge of violence, including an upsurge of violence against teachers. So much doesn't get reported, but this tragedy made the national news.
Last night, there was a vigil for this teacher, with hundreds attending.
I can't bring myself to even start to understand.
Time flies, but justice doesn't. Not in our modern times. The alleged murderers (who were both 16 at the time) haven't been tried yet. The trial of one of the teens was supposed to have begun on December 5 but it has been pushed back. Right now, the new date isn't known but it is interesting that the trial is not going to be in the county where the murder took place, but, rather, about 100 miles away.
The other trial is set to begin next March.
Speedy justice, in these times, seems impossible.
Finally, some progress.
On July 6, 2023, the first of the teens (who was 16 at the time of the murder and had previously pled guilty to beating the teacher to death with a baseball bat) was sentenced to life with the possibility of parole in 35 years.
The motive? He was failing her class.
Oh, did I mention that the slain teacher's husband (who was disabled) died from cancer on June 29?
I still don't have any words for this additional tragedy, at a time of so many other tragedies.
May they forever rest in peace.
...these days people are nuts, they do horrible things and then brag about it on social media. What don't I understand???
ReplyDeleteWords fail me....
ReplyDeleteHorrible
ReplyDeleteVery sad.
ReplyDeleteSo terrible to read about it.
ReplyDeleteFailing a class... I can't imagine anyone back in my school days thinking murder was the answer to that. Such a waste of life, not just the teacher's of course, but the young murderers. Something failed them along the way for them to resort to that.
ReplyDeleteSocial media have a responsibility...not to suppress babble about killing the teacher because they can't "kill" (as in ace) the exam, but to watch it, watch those posting it, and stop them while the charges are less than murder.
ReplyDeleteTo be fair...in the third week after my husband died, if someone had swung a baseball bat at my head, I might not even have ducked. That poor woman.