Midwest Voices

Yael T. Abouhalkah

The Kansas City Star

I am Harry Stone. You are Harry Stone.

Except for one major difference.

You and I are alive today.

Harry Stone is dead.

The 60-year-old Raytown resident was jogging early Sunday morning when he was shot and killed near 67th Street and Blue Ridge Boulevard in Raytown.

Police say all evidence so far shows it was a senseless and random act of violence.

Translated: It could have happened to anyone.

It could have happened to me when I was out for one of my morning, afternoon or nighttime training runs on Kansas City area roads.

It could have happened to you while out walking your dog in your neighborhood.

Want something equally chilling? By its very definition, this kind of random violence will happen again.

So now we wait for authorities to catch Stone’s killers, which I expect will happen. People involved in appalling incidents like this often brag about them. Stone reportedly was shot by a passenger in a car, so there were at least two people in the vehicle.

Stone’s murder has prompted outrage and expected reactions, especially this one: What kind of animals would do something like this to a human being?

Remember Rapheal Willis and Fabian D. Brown Jr.?

They were convicted in the senseless shooting of Robert Osborn in late 2005 on 47th Street east of Blue Ridge Boulevard in Kansas City — four blocks from my house. Osborn had been bicycling home from his job as a stocker at a grocery.

Testimony indicated that Willis and Brown had been driving around that Sunday morning and were bored. They saw Osborn on his bike. Two shots were fired at Osborn; both missed. The men then drove down the street, ambushed Osborn and killed him with a shotgun.

This week’s shooting of Stone — another person minding his own business — also ended the life of someone with loving relatives, someone who was part of the often tight-knit Raytown community. Residents there and elsewhere are repeating understandable reactions to Stone’s killing.

Don’t ever take life for granted. Prosecute these murderers to the full extent of the law.

Some other points, though, are being made in a more pessimistic vein.

Who wants to live in neighborhoods where this kind of thing can happen? Should we get out before the bad elements take over the streets?

Yes, you probably know where I’m going with this.

Both Rapheal Willis and Fabian D. Brown Jr. were young black men.

It would not be surprising if the killers of Harry Stone fit that description, too.

That stereotypical reaction is based on some facts, the primary one being that way too many shootings by young black males occur on the streets of central and east Kansas City, bleeding over into area suburbs.

That reality requires far more attention from the region’s leaders than it has received. Beefing up efforts to get repeat offenders — the ones who commit the most violent offenses — off the streets could be a step toward reducing random crimes.

Many area residents also are feeling, with self-satisfaction or even a little guilt, some other emotion today.

Relief.

Relief that they live in Overland Park or Lee’s Summit or Prairie Village or Liberty or some other “safe” suburb where they are far less likely to be involved in these kinds of crimes.

Catching the killers of Harry Stone is a high priority for the police. But it still might bring only limited relief to his family and this community.

Consider that both suspects in Osborn’s killing pleaded guilty to second-degree murder and sentenced to only 15 years in prison. That deservedly outraged Osborn’s relatives.

A few years ago Ron Osborn said of the incident involving his brother: “You can’t understand why two individuals would declare open season on a human. What normal person can understand that?”

The family of Harry Stone is asking the same question today.

Reach Yael T. Abouhalkah at 816-234-4887 or email him at abouhalkah@kcstar.com. He blogs at voices.kansascity.com. He appears on “Ruckus” at 7 tonight on KCPT, Channel 19. Twitter.com/YaelTAbouhalkah

Comments

1. 

   Gary Smotherman

   1 year ago

   This is the one, even worse than those you mentioned, which I will never forget. I worked on the house of the female officer, who interviewed one of these animals. Who account of what they did to this child will never leave me.

   http://www.crimeandconsequences.com/crimblog/2010/10/the-murder-of-ann-harrison.html

2. 

   George Hunsucker

   Northland

   1 year ago

   you of course fail to mentionn Stone was white YT….

3. 

   Marcia Reardon

   1 year ago

   There are reasons we have gangs. Who walked away from, ignored, forgot, beat & used our gang members? Hello, we can only reduce the gang problem when we become proactive in reducing the need of the young. Family and community isn’t filling the need currently. Big Brother and Big Sister aren’t either. But other gang members are. Know of someone who you suspect of being a gang member or who a gang is trying to recruit? Reach out or contact a local church or other organization who may be able to help. This problem began one individual at a time and can be solved one individual at a time

4. 

   Phil Cardarella

   1 year ago

   Of course, it is now unacceptable to point out the common link among nearly all of these killings: GUNS.

   Guns DO kill people. For many — such as handguns and AKs — that is their sole real purpose. And yet we flood our society with them.

   The NRA and the gunnuts have simply worn down the sane in our society. So we are all subjected to the whims of every fool with a firearm.

5. 

   Charles Purvis

   1 year ago

   Of course, it is now unacceptable to point out the common link among nearly all these fat people: FORKS.

   See how ridiculous that sounds?

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