Back to Eve

I apologize to my readers who were expecting me to blog the Eve Carson hearing. The truth is, I chickened out when we got to Day 2, when they unsealed the autopsy report.

I didn't know until then that she had been shot in the face with a shotgun. This struck me as a final insult, to rob us of her beautiful face, as well as her life.
That's where I lost it.
The report says that she was unrecognizable, that she was initially identified by her jewelry. I was outraged to think that Eve's loved ones were deprived of seeing her face one more time before burial.

SIGH!

I went to writing instead of 4th of July fireworks, taking advantage of the holiday to change the subject, after seeking comic relief from YouTube.
So there you have it. I see no way that I can write about Eve Carson objectively anymore.

Okay, I admit it. It's not like I knew her personally. I did not.
It's just that I have accepted her as "one of us."
It has been said by many that Eve Carson embodied the True Tarheel Spirit, and I myself am inclined to agree. I've always thought of her as Ms. UNC.

Just because I live outside the Chapel Hill city limits doesn't mean that I live outside Tarheel Country. Even in my rural Chatham neighborhood one still sees mailboxes of Carolina Blue, with either the "UNC" or the "Tarheel" logo on it.

Eve Carson was considered by me, my neighbors, and my friends, as a highly respected member of our community, and for good reasons.
Need I explain why?

I know I said this before. Humor me, okay?
Unlike Debbie Key and Kristin Lodge-Miller, Eve was someone we read about in the news before she became a murder victim, not just after.
We already knew she was a good person, and no one ever attempted to challenge that opinion. I'm glad.
Now I don't have to stand on a soapbox and preach about how good people can be victims of crime too. That point has been clearly made already.
That is what I appreciate most about Eve Carson.

I can tell you from personal experience that reading about her last moments alive is enough to make a grown man cry.

After confessing to a friend of my desire to execute her killers personally, I was told that this would make me no better than them.
I'm afraid I have only one defense against that, and that's this.
I'm sure I will be more easily forgiven for killing her killers, than for killing her.

Yes, I agree, the lesser of two evils is still an evil.
Still, I am willing to support any effort that promises to eliminate the greater evil, any way I can.