Houston crime victims are more than just statistics.
[ad_1]
‘Party’ isn’t the right word, although there were cookies on this chilly December night, and ornaments and a white artificial Christmas tree that towered over the scene. Even ‘ceremony’ seems too proper and too final. ‘Vigil’ is probably the only word that comes close to explaining the 27-year-old tradition of Crime Stoppers of Houston to host the parents of murdered children and other surviving family members of homicide victims. The event gives them a chance to hang an ornament of their loved one’s image in a ritual that is about many things at once — mourning the dead, honoring lost lives, and finding community in unimaginable grief.
To an observer who hasn’t known the pain these families have endured, a festive tree with branches sagging under the weight of more than 150 ornaments with portraits of endearing smiles, dimpled cheeks and shining eyes snuffed out by violence can seem haunting. But to the families, the collection of mini monuments on public display at the Crime Stoppers’ building downtown is proof, and reassurance, that they’re not suffering alone.
The magnitude of the violent crime wave touching virtually every corner of Houston and Harris County cuts deeper than any statistics, charts, or criminology theory can convey. We see the headlines, we hear the tragic details. But we rarely stop to think about the grandmother who won’t wrap tamales in the kitchen with her sisters this year or the little brother who won’t unwrap his shiny new toy on Christmas morning.
When Marisol Ramos hung a decoration with a picture of her brother, Ramon Jr. — arms folded self-assuredly in a pink button-down, a mustache framing his warm smile — her eyes scanned up to the branch above where a photo of Martha Medina dangled from a white ribbon.
“I recognized her from the news,” Ramos said. “You see the ornament and it’s like, ‘Oh I remember that story,’ because there are so many stories on the news right now about people getting killed.”
The circumstances surrounding the deaths of Ramon Ramos Jr., 32, and Martha Medina, 71, are eerily similar, not only for their randomness but the failures of the criminal justice system that contributed to them.
Ramon, an architect with the Harris County Department of Engineering, was struck and killed by a drunk driver on the North Loop on Christmas Eve of 2020. This year, on the morning of Sept. 23, Martha had just picked up breakfast at a McDonald’s on the east side, when someone snatched her purse, then drove over her body in a black Impala, killing her. Both of the alleged perpetrators had criminal records and had been out on bond. The woman charged with striking Ramon was wanted on several felony warrants. The man charged with killing Martha was out on bond in connection to a previous capital murder charge in 2019. He was initially jailed on that charge but posted his $150,000 bond three months later.
Sitting at a table together, Ana, Ramon’s mother, clenched the hand of Lourdes, Martha’s daughter, as she tearfully recounted her son’s warmth and generous spirit. A blue mask with Ramon’s airbrushed portrait adorned her face.
“He was a very good son, always taking care of me and my husband and our family. He loved helping people,” Ana said.
Lourdes Medina spoke proudly about the work ethic and values her mother Martha instilled in her. She worked two jobs to support her family and doted on her children, even as adults. Martha’s last moments were spent picking up breakfast for Lourdes.
Our community, like many across this country, has been shaken by incessant sickness and death during this pandemic. But Houston’s epidemic of rising homicides and violence is maddening because many of the causes are man-made: the massive backlog of criminal cases clogging Harris County courts, the changing attitudes of some elected judges who seem to think that criminal justice reform and safety can’t coexist. They can. They must. There has to be a way to respect defendants’ rights and also to prevent the truly dangerous from committing more crimes.
Every day, we watch the morbid tallies climb: 467 homicides to date, a 19 percent increase from last year. What’s much harder, and just as vital, is confronting the devastating toll on families, on neighbors, on communities whose losses are so much more profoundly felt in this holiday season marked by joyous togetherness.
Their vigil must be our vigil. Remember the victims, support these families, urge those in power to do everything possible to stop the senseless violence engulfing our city. Let the smiling portraits dangling from the Crime Stoppers’ Christmas tree remind us of the value of human life.
[ad_2]
Source link
