Rest Well Rita ...

They say “the good dies young.” Stray bullets take the lives of many every day. But why her, and why was this given no recognition? Recently, I have read an article called, "Babysitter, 19,takes stray bullet to the head in Wynnefield heights" by Chief Inspector Scott Small where he points out how a 19 year old girl was shot by a stray bullet for no reason. She was babysitting seven children, all who lived in the home of her death. They did not include the woman’s name in the article. This young woman was just playing her role as a babysitter, why did she have to die?

The situation occurred on Tuesday, October 30, 2012  when she had opened the door of the house where she was babysitting. She had unknowingly walked into a shootout. Two men were running down Aberdeen Street, chasing and shooting at one man. The man who they were shooting at tried to get away as fast as possible, so when the young woman opened the door of the house, he ran to the door and the men followed. The man who was being shot at, grabbed the 19 year old woman and pushed her aside so that he wouldn’t be shot. She was pronounced dead at the scene.

The two gunmen got away, while the man who the guns were being fired at was left uninjured. This goes to show that people are killed everyday with no reason behind it.

This affected me majorly because this 19 year old woman was my best friend’s cousin. I never would’ve thought that she would die so young. Also I think that other people who were killed in the city received more recognition than she did. I thought that this story could’ve used a little more recognition and sympathy than it received.There was one news story on the shooting, and they said they would later release her name, and the name of the man who was originally being chased but they never did. It hurts deeply to see my best friend in so much pain. Rest well S. Hamilton.