ER Ltr Where's the outrage over this death?
On Sunday, April 30, at about 6:30 in the morning, a passerby discovered the body of a young man lying on a Eureka city street.
His name was Trevvor Davenport, a 24-year-old man with loving parents, a brother and numerous friends. Trevvor, as you may have read, was the victim of a homicide; an unknown person suddenly and maliciously took his life. Why? For what reason? These are questions I have been tasked with answering.
My name is Curt Honeycutt. I’m a detective with the Eureka Police Department and it was I who was awakened early Sunday morning and asked to put the pieces of this puzzle together. Although Trevvor isn’t the first victim of a homicide that has occurred in Eureka, sadly he will not be the last. I remember when I saw Trevvor for the first time that morning. I remember thinking how young and alone he looked lying there in the street while you and I slept in our safe and warm beds.
As police officers we tend to distance ourselves from becoming emotionally attached to victims of crime. This is not because we don’t care. Instead, we distance ourselves because we are the finders of facts and must keep an open mind.
In recent weeks, I have read letter after letter printed in the Times-Standard and The Eureka Reporter criticizing the Eureka Police Department for actions related to the death of Cheri Moore. Let it be known, this letter is not about her or the events that occurred that day. I write this letter wanting to know, where is the outrage over the death of Trevvor Davenport? Unlike her situation, this was a murder. She chose her outcome. Trevvor did not. While both were tragic deaths, what makes his life any less valuable? I have yet to see one letter to the press or one speaker in a public meeting addressing the senseless killing of Trevvor. So, I ask you, where’s the outrage?
Where are the cries of justice for Trevvor and his family? Unfortunately, I don’t believe there will be any. Why, you ask? Is it because Trevvor’s death won’t help a ballot measure, influence an election or expedite the formation of a police review board? No, Trevvor is just another victim who could be forgotten by citizens and protesters in Humboldt County.
However, I make this promise to Trevvor’s family and friends: I am outraged. I care. So do the people I work with at the Eureka Police Department. We will do everything in our power to give you the answers I know you are so desperately looking for. Why did Trevvor have to die so young, and for what reason?
(Curtis Honeycutt is a detective for the Eureka Police Department.)
Copyright (C) 2005, The Eureka Reporter. All rights reserved.
2 comments:
"She chose her outcome" this comment his incredibly disrespectful and ignorant of the facts. Review the inquest testimony, Cheri was calling mental health begging for help because she thought her landlord was outside and wanted to rape her. She was terrified and obviously very confused about what was going on. To call her death a choice is a hateful and violent act in itself. Additionally, the outrage in her case (as opposed to other murders) lies in the fact that it was committed by those who are supposed to protect us, and it continues to be justified by those (like yourself) who believe that cops should be given the right to do whatever they want without consequences. And don't give me the BS about "monday morning quarter backs". Fascists like you make me sick.
You're welcome to comment here, but all of the discussion takes place at the sister blog watchpaul.
And for the record, I agree with the author of the letter - she chose her path in life - a choice that involved meth and other drugs, she was estranged from her family - who would you blame?
Then, someone who blows up like this often does it as a means of getting attention, sympathy and encouragement. the trouble with it is it gets old, and in order to keep getting attention, you have to up the ante, first you just say you want to commit suicide, then it escalates and you actually have to cut your wrists to get attention, til it finally reaches the point where you have all the attention you could ever want - armed policemen outside your door. Is that what happened here? I don't presume to know. But I consider all the possibilities.
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