As I write this on Monday evening, 19-year-old Dashanay Wilson is fighting for her life on a hospital bed at Region One Medical Center in Memphis.
The Blytheville teen is the latest victim of violence in what has been one of the deadliest Februarys in Blytheville’s history.
Four local residents’ lives have been cut short by gunfire this month: 63-year-old Jerry Marshall on Feb. 6; 35-year-old Travis Pearson on Feb. 11; 26-year-old Brittney Sims on Feb. 19; and 22-year-old Keodrae Jones on Feb. 20.
Wilson was in critical condition Monday following a shooting in Walker Park the previous day. The prognosis doesn’t look good, but we certainly pray for her recovery. It seems most of the shooters tend to be teenagers or in their 20s for whatever reason.
Before squeezing the trigger, they don’t consider the likely outcome is trading their freedom for a jail cell as the victim lies on a morgue table.
They don’t think about the grieving family members and friends of the victim, how they will never see their loved one again.
There will be an empty seat at Christmas dinner and family barbecues.
In that instant, children grow up without a parent; parents are forced to bury their son or daughter before their lives really begin. A community becomes stigmatized because of the misguided, impetuous actions of a few.
It’s infuriating.
The fact is, the majority of Blythevillians are law-abiding citizens who want to raise a family in a safe environment. They are fed up with the violence and have been for quite some time.
Unfortunately, there are no easy answers or obvious solutions to what has plagued Blytheville for far too long.
One certainty is until mindsets change, there will continue to be heinous acts like we’ve seen this month.
It all starts with parents instilling the value of life into their children at an early age and setting a good example.
Life is not a video game; there is no reset button. Being disrespected on social media doesn’t give one the right to handout a death sentence. Once one makes the fateful decision to point a weapon and fire, the aftermath is out of his or her control.
It’s worth noting that the Blytheville Police Department makes arrests in about 70 percent of murder cases, meaning there is a better chance than not that the shooter will be brought to justice.
It’s incumbent on the courts to ensure violent criminals are kept out of society and sentenced so as to discourage others from similar offenses.
Whatever it takes, the violence must end now if Blytheville is to prosper and provide a future for the next generation.
mbrasfield@neatowncourier.com