Terry Noyes – 12/28/12

This page was last updated on December 28, 2012.

Deliver us from destruction; Terry Noyes; Beaver County Times; December 28, 2012.

Below is a detailed critique of the subject letter.

“I just can’t read another article on the horrible crime committed in Beaver Falls. We in Beaver Falls lose at least one person a year in a gun slaying.

“The victims are usually African American. Very similar circumstances: Someone who is unstable has a gun; they get into a verbal battle; they lose their cool and shoot. The victim loses his future, as does the criminal.”

[RWC] Since Mrs. Noyes brought up skin color, let’s get the details correct. If you were not familiar with the case, Mrs. Noyes’ “the victims are usually African American” comment may lead you to believe this victim was also black.

In this case, the victim [Kayla Peterson (22 years old)] was white and at least two of her alleged killers [Todavia Cleckley (14) and Marcus Velasquez (14)] were black. I found no photos of the third male [Kyle Goosby, Jr. (13)] so I don’t know his skin color.

For the country as a whole, though, a black person killing a white and vice versa is not the norm. According to a Wall Street Journal article, “Bureau of Justice Statistics data show that from 1976 to 2005, white victims were killed by white defendants 86% of the time and black victims were killed by blacks 94% of the time.”

“The stories are much more complicated than the headlines report. Recent reports of this horrible crime do nothing for an understanding of what is really happening in our town, nor do they bring any insight into how to stop the insanity.

“Readers become enraged, encouraging more violence, and the sensationalism increases racism. The plight of children like our current criminals is heart breaking, as is the loss of this young woman’s life. I knew these boys. Their stories are tragic, yet they deserve to reap the consequences of their actions.”

[RWC] Mrs. Noyes wrote “the sensationalism increases racism,” yet we know the vast majority of violent crime is not inter-racial. Consider this excerpt from a Pittsburgh Post-Gazette article: “Without black-on-black crime, city police Chief Nate Harper said Thursday, Pittsburgh could expect to see its homicide rate drop dramatically, to around 10 deaths a year. Instead, he said, the city has, on average, more than 55 homicides yearly. In the past 10 years, black-on-black killings have accounted for nearly 80 percent of the city's homicides -- 307 of 385 -- where an offender has been identified. The average for that period is 56.2 homicides each year.”

That said, how long will it take before someone claims the victim was at fault and acting out of racism when she asked her alleged killers, “Why don’t you guys get a job?”