This is a test. Read just the following sentence then follow the prompt:
3-year-old Kayleigh Slusher was murdered in San Francisco shortly after police responded to reports of violence and abuse at her home.
Her body showed signs of sexual assault and blunt force trauma.
Okay. Deep breath.
Now. What do you think?
How long will Kayleigh’s untimely death remain in your thoughts?
I ask because Kayleigh’s violent death allegedly at the hands of mom and mom’s boyfriend coincides with the death of Kevasia Edwards, the death of Phillip Seymour Hoffman, and a flurry of editorial opinions about Dylan Farrow, abuse survivor.
If you want to take my test a step further google each of these stories then scan for how much air each story has gotten.
Hoffman’s death is a tragedy, no doubt, but while police in New York and San Francisco are scrambling to punt responsibility for Kayleigh and Kevasia, people have been arrested for selling drugs to Hoffman.
Don’t get me wrong. People got arrested for the deaths of the two little girls. People who were known to be dangerous parents? People who had already incited the scrutiny of neighbors, authorities?
What should have been done to save them?
And why wasn’t it?
Should a grown man choosing to engage in deadly behavior warrant more intervention than helpless children? Helpless because we turn away.
Forget.
Don’t want to get involved.
Kayleigh was a citizen of Napa, California. Early reportage placed her brief life and tragic death in San Francisco.
Napa, not SF. Kayleigh was murdered in Napa.
Alyssa, I don’t know why, but your specificity is heartbreaking. Did you know her? It is a rhetorical question about a death so full of sorrow and loss.