Saving Rosedale

Recently, October 29th, a 26 year old young man was murdered on the front porch of his home, with his children inside. The events that took place after this horrific crime are all but puzzling and disturbing to me, my family, his family, and our town. This is not the same place I grew up.

Rosedale is a town with an estimated total population of 2,286, a 5.3 increase since 2000, we all grew up with one another; we all know or know of each other. There are no strangers in my town, nor are there any secrets. Over the past 2-3 years, the crime rate in this small town have sky rocketed with little to no justice or answers. The minor crimes are handled with much more urgency than major crimes, such as murder and arson.

Richard T. was shot in the back of his head early Saturday morning; his body remained on that porch for well over an hour. There was never any crime tape placed over the crime scene, many people had the opportunity to walk through the crime scene, had they wanted to. I never saw any police lights or heard any sirens to alert the citizens of our community that something terrible had happened or something was wrong. I happened to be visiting family this week and had I not been there personally, I would have never believed this lack of competency would have ever occurred.

I have heard many complaints from local citizens of harassment, including sexual, from local authorities, but never gave it much thought. Citizens have been complaining consistently over the last year, but who are we to complain to when the people who are paid to serve and protect us, are the exact ones that have we are complaining about? The town is outraged at this latest occurrence and it is my fear that this will spark even less trust in the justice system and authorities as a whole in the town. If this happens, we are really in trouble.

If the people don’t think the police can effectively deal with criminal issues, then what are the chances of them attempting to solve their own issues and eliminate local authorities all together? Upon my departure from town November 6th, I never saw any crime tape around the home where this took place. How and where does this happen? The people of the community are talking, rumors are spreading rapid, but what is being done? We’re asking for assistance before we lose our town for good. Let me be clear that I have no grudges or problems with anyone individually, but as a whole, the system that is currently in place has FAILED our town, the citizens, His children, His family, and if nothing is done... this will not be the last failure! We're asking for HELP! We're asking for ANSWERS! We're DEMANDING JUSTICE!!!