When I said Friday that I’d be writing on the Tynesha Stewart story again, I didn’t expect it to be so soon. Last night, though, the sheriff’s office announced that there will not be a search for her remains after all (CNN):
HOUSTON, Texas (AP) — A 19-year-old Texas A&M University student was killed by her ex-boyfriend, who then dismembered and burned her body on a patio grill, authorities said Saturday.
[snip]
Thomas said he knew, but could not disclose, that there were no body parts to find. He said investigators were unable to release that information to the public or to Stewart’s family because of the investigation. Stewart’s family has since been advised, and understands why there will be no search, Thomas said.
Even the most superficial contemplation of the details makes me ill.
No matter how understanding Tynesha Stewart’s family may be about the search now, there’ll be no peace for them. And that would have been true if a massive search had taken place with no results, too.
So why did her family have to go through all this? How did we end up with such a circus of misinformation, and positions advanced and retracted? I think it’s partly the result of how the confession was obtained, and who was involved.
Activist Quanell X has frequently drawn criticism for his confrontational manner and relentless self-promotion, usually in front of television cameras.
But detectives and volunteers helping in the search for a missing Texas A&M University student say he deserves much praise for drawing a confession on Wednesday from Timothy Wayne Shepherd, which led to murder charges in Tynesha Stewart’s disappearance.
Quanell X figures in many Houston-area stories when a member of the black community is the victim, but he’s an extremely controversial person in this area for his involvement with the accused, as well. He’s drawn fire from local bloggers many times, for both his association with the New Black Panther Party, and his symbiotic relationship with the local press.
It’s the second of these, I think, that blew this situation into a fiasco — because the point of contact this time (as it often is) was the press.
The role he’s filling, though — a go-between for law enforcement and accused criminals — speaks to the distrust between the legal establishment and the black community. In spite of his often divisive — even racist — rhetoric, he’s often trusted where the police are not.
And in this tragic tale, that underlying distrust and suspicion blew up in everyone’s faces.
I doubt that this is the end of the story. There may very well be more back and forth, accusations and retractions and disclosures and hostility — although I hope not. Tynesha Stewart’s family has suffered enough without the added emotional burdens of this historically-rooted apprehension.
There should be no need for a Quanell X, and the media shouldn’t have to be part of the law enforcement process. If there is a lesson to be learned here, it’s that this broken bridge needs fixing.
Badly.
I don’t even know where to begin on this one… just when you think things can’t get any worse, along comes a story like this to prove you wrong.
~EdT.
While I understand your point, i think this would have devolved into a cluster—- even without the involvement of Quanell X. Simply put, there was far too much public interest in the story for the police to be able to keep a lid on “developments” until they had all the facts. Sort of like the case of the “runaway bride”, except with a far more tragic ending.
What I think is broken is our insatiable need for all the details (and the gorier, or more salacious, the better.) And, (pardon the pun), I don’t think this bridge is broken: I think we burned it out from under ourselves. And, I am not sure we will ever be able to fix it.
~EdT.
It is so common for there to be basic knowledge of a case before it goes to trial, that by saying you can’t comment on it it draws greater interest instead of respect for the process. When it is known that they have a confession, then it greatly increases the interest about other details. When asked about a search for the missing, they should just stop there and say nothing more. There is a blurry area where extremely small amounts of info go from temporary satisfying demand to multiplying it. In this case, saying they had the suspect in cutody should have been the respectful end of information for a few days both for the press asking and for the officers giving.
There IS no need for Quanell X. Or rather if there is it’s a need he created for himself, much as an ambulance chaser generates his or her own business.
I agree with Jack in that the details of the case simply shouldn’t have been released to the public, particularly not in the piece-meal fashion they dribbled out over the past week.
Marc – unfortunately, too many people in the black community do see a need for someone like Quanell X, and it is based on the perception that the police department cannot be trusted – that if you are a black person, and taken into custody, you need someone like him to ensure you aren’t used as a punching toy/clay pigeon by rogue cops. That was a real problem in this city in the past.
~EdT.
UPDATE
This fine a.m., they broadcast further details about the goings on at the bar-b-que. Media type interviewed neighbors living at the apt. complex where the neighbors reported observing the perp hard at work 24 hours a day for two days slaving over two bar-b-que pits. They commented that the work produced thick smoke and an awful smell, so awful that eventually the Ponderosa Fire Department was called to investigate. When they arrived, one neighbor noted that the perp was sweating profusely as he ended his cooking while the Fire Department interviewed him. Although they investigated, they never filed a report indicating anything untoward and apparently asked him to limit flame size and smoke discharge.
Just another day in the neighborhood. Note as well, it was another “aquaintance” killing/cooking. Thus, “Note to Self”: be very, very selective and careful in who you allow to become an aquaintance.
Later, later……………..I’m off to the gun show!