Guess I Need To Start Following Up!!

I'm rather embarrassed about this; after some thought it seems like it should have been obvious... When I first started this blog in 2008 it never occurred to me to go back and see if there were any updates to some of the older posts, especially the ones where crimes were committed and either no one was caught or the guilty were not being punished.

This one falls between the two, as it took them a while to identify the killer.

The original story was about a woman named Kim Jones, (you can read it here) a 56 year old woman who went out to the bus stop to go to work one day, and was shot and killed. At the time, my problem with it was the headline some of the newspaper articles were written under.

  Lesbian gunned down in North Philly

Kim Jones

 That was the way the articles in some Philadelphia newspapers read. (And other headlines along the same lines.) "Lesbian Gunned Down" as if she was a lesbian gang member who was executed by a bunch of gun-wielding competitors a la Valentine's Day Massacre and Elliott Ness! (I didn't realize that after all this time I am still so angry about that!) She was a social worker, she was a woman who worked at a non-profit, she was a newly married woman, she was a loving mother of two sons; she was NOT JUST A LESBIAN!! Considering the fact that it's a gay newspaper that the original article came from, one might think that would excuse it, but IMO it actually makes it worse. Being singled out and identified strictly by your gender is WRONG, and more wrong when it's done by those who are supposed to understand. 

Okay, I'm sorry, this is supposed to be about an update in Ms. Jones' murder case, not a rehash of my own rantings...

So here's the story. You can read the whole thing here if you prefer, but the upshot is Ms. Jones was targeted, just as the article states.  She was killed by someone who knew her schedule, so she was probably stalked, and the person was waiting for her when she came out to catch the bus. While standing at the bus stop, listening to gospel music and probably planning her day, someone walked up behind her and shot her in the back of the head. The reason it was done that way rather than a drive-by or faking a robbery or something? Because that way her killer had a better chance of not being seen. He couldn't let that happen, just in case he failed to kill her, because she knew her murderer. It was someone that she had hired as Associate Director at the non-profit organization she was Director of, someone that she worked closely with on a day-to-day basis. Randolph Sanders shot and killed her to keep her away from a meeting she had scheduled that day. She was meeting with DHS to inform them of Mr. Sanders' alleged misappropriation of funds.(You can read more about that here.)

To bring you up-to-date, unfortunately Mr. Sanders has not yet been to trial. His date is set for February 27, 2017. I will definitely be keeping track of this case and will keep you posted.

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Why Is the First Word in This Headline the Word LESBIAN????

What does her sexual orientation have to do with it? Do we know for sure that it had anything to

Kim Jones, 56, killed while at the bus stop

do

with her being gunned down? I was getting undressed to go to bed, and happened to glance at the computer;  it made me so angry I just dropped everything and had to sit down and write this post.  Come on people!! 

If we don't know that being a lesbian had anything to do with why she was killed, then the word 'lesbian' shouldn't be in the headline AT ALL, let alone be the first word!! In doing that, the media has made the article all about ‘a lesbian'; not about a woman, not about a Philadelphia resident, not even about a black woman! It's simply about 'a lesbian', and that's what everyone is going to jump on. The reason I saw this is because someone I know posted it on her Facebook and was talking about how angry she is about this lesbian being killed. Not about a human being that was just shot while standing at the bus stop waiting to go to work, but about a lesbian being 'gunned down'. Do you ever see articles reading "Heterosexual man hit by a car while crossing the street" or "CIS woman stabbed while grocery shopping"?? For some reason, the "gunned down" part irks me too, because it sounds like what mobsters do to each other, or gang members. Straight people who live in North Hollywood don't get "gunned down", they get "fatally shot", so why is a black lesbian from North Philly "gunned down"?? The majority of the people who read this article won't know Kim Jones, her wife, or her family, but what they will remember in the future when anyone brings this up will be that a lesbian was killed. She was a mother, a daughter, and a wife. People loved her for being Kim, not just for being lesbian. She was a human being, and all human beings deserve more respect than that.

  Lesbian gunned down in North Philly

A North Philadelphia lesbian was shot in broad daylight Tuesday morning while on her way to work.

Kim Jones, 56, was shot in the head at 9:30 a.m. while she was standing on the corner of 12th and Jefferson streets near Temple University, waiting to take the bus to work, police said.
The gunman came up behind Jones, who was wearing headphones, and shot her point-blank in the back of the head.
Investigators believe Jones was targeted, but a motive had not been announced as of presstime.
"She had her purse, she had her cellphone, she had jewelry on, none of which was taken, none of which was disturbed," said Homicide Capt. James Clark in a press conference Tuesday.
Officer Tanya Little, a police spokesperson, said investigators are aware that Jones, who married her partner last month, was a lesbian, and do not yet know if that could have played a role in her killing.
“Investigators have not ruled out anything at this point,” Little said.
The gunman is described as a heavyset black male wearing black clothing and carrying a black duffle bag. Investigators are reviewing video footage from SEPTA, Temple and city cameras to continue looking for clues.
"Someone knew her routine, knew she waited for the bus and waited for her," Clark said in a press conference Tuesday. "For whatever reason, she was targeted."
David Fair, deputy CEO of Turning Points for Children, a service and support organization for youth where Jones worked as program director of the Families and Schools Together initiative for the past seven years, said Jones was an exemplary employee.
“Extremely smart,” he said about her. “Always thinking about how to address the challenges in her job.”
Jones' work focused on providing parent education and support services to families of children in city schools to enhance academic success.
“She lived and breathed the children and families she worked with. When it came to the kids, she was everyone’s mother and grandmother,” Fair said. “That’s what I will remember most about her. She was one of the most caring people that I met.”
Jones, who earned a master’s of business administration, had been divorced from her ex-husband for more than 25 years, and had two adult sons.
The city is offering a $20,000 reward for information leading to an arrest and conviction.