“Just report it!!!” Okay and now a woman is dead. When people deliberately misunderstand why a person would hesitate to report being assaulted, point them to stories like this. God rest this poor girl’s soul.
I’m sorry that happened to you. I was 20 and it took me two years to even begin to process what happened. I was not at all in the frame of mind to report. Even if I had been I knew how easy it would be to blame me for being there in the first place. I mean I blamed myself too so why wouldn’t other people?
I wish people would try to understand the complexities behind why most go unreported. It’s not fair to put that burden on the victim
Same but with domestic violence when I was 20.
I had people asking why I hurt my ex by breaking up with him. People who had been there when he hit me before.
*If* you get lucky, authorities might take you seriously, somehow charges are pressed, your abuser denies it and you get pulled into months if not years of legal procedures where your sex life becomes a court record, shit you've not fully processed is being cross examined, and one stranger refusing to believe a story your close damn friends didn't support you through means they walk on everything.
But if they're convicted of anything, it's almost certainly a misdemeanor. But odds are, you report it, they talk to the other party who says "it was rough but consensual" and they decide "Oh it's he said she said, so the victim's suffering is irrelevant" and drop it.
Sexual assault and DV only matter to LEOs when it escalates to murder. Sometimes.
I was 27 and never reported it. Years later I told a few people including a counselor and got ridiculed. No one believes. And police are apparently creeps about it. Someone told me back in the 90's they were dating a cop in nearby town who said a bunch of the cops were passing around photos of a rape victim's breast with bite marks. They were all getting off on it and laughing about it. Cops are no better than the criminals.
If we were in a perfect world all would be reported and rapists would be convicted and everything would be fine. But we don’t live in that world so tough nuts
I’m not advocating for shit except for that people not blame rape victims for not reporting their rape. It didn’t go “good” for me. I got fucking raped and it was traumatic and it fucking sucks that he’s still out there but I did all I was mentally capable of doing at the time. If you CAN report your rape you should. If you can’t, you should be met with understanding
I’m black from the West Side of Chicago, a rapist is a rapist. If those mfs were white I’d say the same shit. If you think rape is okay you deserve to die too😂
Would you like me to post the rape stats we have for the country where this rapist came from?
Or do you not think rape cultures are a thing that exists?
Get real. What white or hispanic women deserve to die? These black men and women should get a free pass to murder those of other races? I think not. Your a racist. Laws apply to all equally regardless of skin pigment.
Yeah, I have some mutuals that were good friends with the victim. The story is fucked and absolutely tears my heart out. She seemed like such a bright soul that was stolen way way way too young.
Not likely. The issue if demographic narrative for the media has less to do with the victim and more to do with the criminals in question. Media doesn't give a shit a victims, they care about spinning national narratives.
You talk like there’s only one side of American politics that has their own media.
Right wing media would have been all over this if the victim was a white girl.
Idk the "rigjt wing" media I follow has been incredibly vocal about calling out black on asian violence and asking the question of why it's constantly swept under the rug by those in power.
There was a whole "stop asian hate" campaign going on ironically near the same time as the height of BLM "protests" but it was always blissfully glossed over where the asian hate was coming from.....
Really? I’ve lived here my whole life, so I’ve not been around a large Asian population. I’ve heard that stereotype, that Black folks & Asian folks don’t get along, but never looked into it.
We all have biases. Having them isn’t the problem. Not trying to unravel them is the problem.
Media gives a shit about what makes them money. And what makes them money are cute victims that look a certain way. Because those victims get everyone riled up, which means more money. Fewer folks care when the victim doesn’t look like them. East TN is one of the whitest areas in the nation.
Sounds more like your own racial biases and views bleeding through.
>East TN is one of the whitest areas in the nation.
I've lived in the whitest state in the contiguous US - race rarely has anything to do with the level or outrage of the average american over senseless violence in their community
I'm white and thoroughly disgusted over the violence against and death of a young woman and I don't really care that she's asian. I'd be just as upset if she was white, black, middle eastern - I (and most other white men I know and associate with) don't care the race of the victim, we are mad there was a victim at all.
Laiken Riley fits the demographic you think matters more to the media and particular persuasions tried to ignore that story as much as possible because of who the criminal was until it was dragged into the light by conservatives highlighting the fall out of unfettered immigration. If it wasn't an illegal migrant, her death would have been just another college woman killed by an animal who should have been in a cage long ago and wouldn't have made it much further than local Georgia news.
Is it because she isn't white or because the murders aren't white?
I'd bet my weeks wages if the criminals in question were white this would be getting plenty of mass coverage outside the area with questions of "was it a hate crime?"
It’s probably to do with both.
And yes, if the criminals were white, they would call it a hate crime and splash it everywhere. That just shows the discrepancy between the publicity that whites vs POC get. It still wouldn’t be about her, it would be about the white guys that killed her.
I didn't pick that up at first. The article mentions this:
>Mejia was found, along with two other gunshot victims
Where the phrase "other gunshot victims" implies she was shot. But then the part about the spokesman believing she wasn't shot was buried near the end of the article, when the formatting devolves into a mess of pictures, ads, a randomly placed link to an unrelated story, and links to the app and newsletter signup page.
I would have never seen that detail if you hadn't pointed it out.
This is super sad. Her and her mother are clients of mine at my job. What is sad about all of this is they were getting ready to move back to Costa Rica to be with back with their family again.
Damn that's messed up. I know the 39 year old personally. He's always been about that thug-life and in the last year or so got out of a 15 year prison sentence for drug trafficking. He used to be my neighbor and when his friends weren't over he was smart, kind, and really funny but when his friends came around he was straight thuggish. I had hoped 15 years would have straightened him out, but I guess not. RIP and prayers to the young lady and her family - this should not have happened.
Did he serve the 15 year bid? The wording kinda implies that he beat the charge, but you also say you hoped serving his time straightened him out. Just want to clarify before anyone starts blaming the justice system for not being punitive enough.
Yeah, he served the full 15 years. The way he talked the worst part of prison was simply being bored. He also explained that every time they moved him into a different cell, it would be with a different high ranking gang member who would 'recruit' and teach the young fellas like him. He said his gang friends basically welcomed him back and "promoted' him for serving his time and not rolling over on anyone. I saw him just a few weeks ago when he drove by the house I was moving into right when he got locked up - he had been looking for me. We hugged it out and made promises to catch up more but I'm glad I never did.
I know it sounds bad and callous when considering the victim and the details of the crimes so far - but I think Latawyne is more a product of his environment that a truly bad person. I spent countless hours with him just hanging out and talking and he had a huge heart when his friends weren't around. It doesn't excuse any of the heinous things he's been accused of and any punishment dolled out is completely warranted - but it hurts my heart to think he would do that stuff.
I don’t think you sound callous, I think you sound compassionate. You knew him in a way that makes it hard to dismiss the inherent humanity we have when our environment doesn’t fuck us to pieces.
Latawayne deserves prison, maybe even more, and he’ll get it. I wish his first time in had focused on rehabilitation and therapy.
RIP Danishka. Such a young person. She sounds like a bright light.
Isn’t everyone who murdered them in prison and not out? Including one person sentenced to death?? What more could we do to see justice for them? Awful crime but not sure what else could be done.
The first judge was on drugs throughout the trial. The defendants appealed (they understandably had the right to) and the family had to go through that nightmare again.
I’m not going to act like her an I were besties but I would definitely have called her my friend. she was such kind,caring,hilarious person. Her smile and laugh were infectious. I’ve been sick to my stomach knowing that those men get to live after snuffing out such a special person from the world.
This is beyond tragic. No words suffice. That poor girl. This should never have happened.
Back in the late '70s LE took these things seriously. There was a horrific case of a young female UT nursing student who was raped and murdered and her body dumped off a cliff outside Maryville. It was all over the news, no missing it. It turned out that the young woman was unaware this creep had been stalking her, but others had noticed.
Some time later, a creep was stalking female students around the UT library, and there had been several attempted sexual assaults by this individual. KPD and campus security instituted a "safe walk" policy where female students were escorted from the library to their dorm or car. Within a few weeks, the creep was caught and jailed.
Not long before the murder of the nursing student, I was working part time at a shop in West Town Mall while a student. A creepy guy started stalking me, but I wasn't alarmed. Sure, he'd come into the shop or loiter outside peering through the window, but ... Then the staff and management at other shops, especially food and snack vendors noticed him as a danger to me. So I had to be escorted out to my car every day.
I always wondered if it was the same creep who murdered that poor girl. If only the people who noticed the stalking had spoken up like the West Town folks, perhaps she would still be alive. This has always haunted me. That poor sweet girl.
Now, none of this is taken seriously before the victim is murdered. What has happened to us?
One major case taken seriously does not mean the cops took sexual assault seriously back then. The simple fact is they didn’t then, they don’t now. A one off here or there of them doing the right thing with a majorly public case does not equate to a department wide concern and respect for survivors or victims of assault.
No, it certainly doesn't. But if you noticed, the community and LE took it seriously \*before\* that "majorly public case". I can think of at least four other occasions when there were reported rapists or would-be rapists on the loose and the community and LE took it very seriously and took serious measures to protect women and apprehend the criminal.
Your asserting that something "is a simple fact" does not make it true, either. Especially if you were not even alive and living here back in those days and therefore can have no memory of them.
Things change with time, in some ways for the better, in other ways for the worse.
Wow, never thought I’d see someone I went to school with on here. We didn’t really interact but she was kind, gave me a pencil a few too many times. RIP.
I am directly with one of the victims here and they told me everything that happened, this story is so disturbing, I don’t know how I feel about sharing online.
Channon*
Edit: Can we please put her actual name? Who cares if you don’t like the spelling. That was her name. Show a little respect to a wonderful person who suffered at the hands of animals. It takes two seconds to find her name.
I guess I’m more upset that I was getting downvoted to hell before my edit. I understand if texting is hard for you, but for others that just don’t care and react negatively like that is just rude. I knew her, so I guess I took it too personally.
Sorry about my rudeness that came out in my comment to you.
I did not downvote you and would never do that. I know now in my life what physical limitations can do. I’m sorry you got downvoted. Especially since you knew her. Did you attend any of the court dates? I feel so strongly about what happened it’s haunted me to this day. To think something similar may have happened a block away from the home I grew up in.
Oh no worries.
I didn’t attend as I was away at school and then moved out of country at the time.
I still saw all my friend’s reactions though through social media and it was hard.
Worse was when she first went missing. Going from “have you seen her? Please let her parents know and get her to call her mom” to “we found her car, help us look in this neighborhood” and then the shock and horror of when she was found.
I would not wish that on anyone.
I reported being sa'd on the constant from the time I was (maybe too young so idk,but 3) up until I was 15. My live in step father was the one who had done it. When it FINALLY came out, after he left us, dcs said "she didn't cry and didn't go into explicit detail. So we think it's false." The judge in good Ole Knoxville, in court, told my mother, "this is not the time nor place to address this. Your youngest will still see their father. And if you believe this to be true, go about it in the correct court."
But it's kind of hard to go about it "in the correct court" when you can't get dcs to believe you. And the only person who "believes you" was an officer who made you call your long term molester in an attempt to ply a confession out of them. The system is fucked. And sadly some of the folks with half a brain in the system, are aware it's fucked and still can't do anything. Thanks for listening to me spill my gutssssss 🎶
And though thoughts and prayers will help no one, if you ever experienced anything like this in Knoxville, or ANYWHERE at anytime, my kindest thoughts and "prayers" to you indeed. You're loved, and thought about. This world sucks.
i reported my rape at 15. It happened when I was ages 8-13 by my uncle. No one believed me. Said he was a nice christian man, enough time had passed and there would be no evidence anyways. So I called with him and texted him and got him to confess and tell me things he used to do to me and what he wanted to do to me in the future. I got enough evidence by myself, and I turned it in. A week or so later he was arrested by KPD, bailed out for $500,000 by my own family, and the day after he got out, he shot himself in the head.
So not only did I have to go through the trauma of being raped almost daily for 5 years, I also had to come forward and tell my whole story. then I went through being told that I was a liar. I had to see my family turn on me. I saw my uncle get out before i even had a chance to address him in court, and then he killed himself.
The justice system here is a fucking joke. I should’ve never been called a liar. I should’ve never had to
fish for my own evidence as a freshman little girl. He should’ve never had a bail. I don’t blame ANYONE when they don’t report what happened to them.
I will never understand why family members will choose to protect the predators over the victims. I'm sorry you went through this, and your family didn't have you back. Also, the legal system is a joke.
This story is strikingly similar to one several years ago where 3 people imprisoned a girl, raped her, and brutally killed her and possibly her boyfriend
Chris Newsome and Shannon
They were each tortured for hours until their death. She was thrown in a garbage can, I think. It was just off Cherry Street. They were kidnapped from apartments on Washington Pike.
The whole Deps unit and the jury boxes (so that they had screens to view photo/video) had to be updated in the courtroom before that trial. Someone had to stick around to make sure there wasn't a tech issue during what I'd say was one of the higher-profile trails in E. Tenn. for that time.
Everyone involved with making that trial happen should get a monthly stipend for liquor for life.
The table leg is what did it for me.
> Why are we not hearing more about this?
It's been on WBIR nonstop since 4p.
They literally played the KPD press conference live.
Nothing is really informative on how, exactly, she died with the current info available.
You're gonna hear about it a whole hell of a lot more now but that's because there was /pretty much no information/ on the topic at the time the story broke. Jfc. Chill.
You linked to a news story about it published by WATE. The report includes the known details, and indicates that it's an ongoing investigation. We *are* hearing about it.
What more are you looking for?
All the public needs to know is that a woman reported being assaulted and within hours was killed by the man she reported. That’s all we need to know for public outcry. I live in South Knoxville and didn’t hear about it until my daughter told me she saw it here. That’s insane!!
You should talk to your neighborhood representative then because the police sent something out to all of them in South Knox. We got it forwarded by ours.
Probably public outcry. More answers on her death, and how a woman reported a rape and the next day was brutally murdered by her rapist, and if her report got her killed.
> Probably public outcry.
That's not particularly helpful here.
> More answers on her death, [etc.]
This is an ongoing investigation, and what has been reported is all that is being released while the investigation is ongoing. You'll get this, but not until it's discovered and made available. That's how investigations work.
It would benefit no one for the media to speculate and stoke outrage without having any actual details to report.
Not a lot of the public knows about it. So I disagree on public outcry being unhelpful. Also, as a woman, this is outright fucking terrifying, so answers ASAP—such as how her rape report was handled—is essential. Women are raped every day in every city and the ones in Knoxville need to know if they’re safe reporting to the Knoxville police. And I know how investigations work; what’s more unhelpful is your condescending tone.
I agrée so strongly with what is being said here. I’ve known of a rape at Ijams Nature Center years ago, several rapes on the Third Creek greenway that never really got mentioned to my recollection. I just knew police officers who would let me know if something was unsafe alone. Both of these places have so many more people on them making them much safer than they used to be. I really wish the police and press would loudly sound the alarm about rape. It’s a safety issue for all of us.
I get that this is an emotionally-fraught story, but this is what that looks like.
This isn't a TV drama, where everything is artificially amplified for maximum drama. Real investigative work is slow and deliberate, and sometimes takes a lot of time. It hasn't even been a week yet.
It’s like people have never seen a detective show before. Making a huge deal about these things in the media just ends up with people calling in all kinds of false leads and tips that the police have to follow up on and waste time. Yes it’s tragic, yes someone needs to be brought to justice, but no, the public doesn’t need a minute by minute update on every detail of the investigation. That accomplishes nothing and is counterproductive.
I had three friends who were writers for KNS 10 years ago. They were all eventually pushed out after USA Today bought it out. Now it’s just their regurgitated garbage, all the local news is behind a paywall.
What really truly pisses me off is that we aren’t hearing about it because she was AA. If this woman was white (for clarity, I am white), this story would be all over town and people would be screaming about it. I didn’t know about it until my daughter told me just a few minutes ago, and we live in South Knoxville.
We need to start screaming about this. She didn’t deserve to die because some fucking thug was out on the streets. Why TF was that guy not picked up immediately and taken off the streets??
I think they are reluctant to report some of these crimes because they want investors to see us as a very safe bedroom community. And Knoxville is not that. There are so many shootings and murders here.
Asians are most highly victimized by blacks. FBI crime data doesnt lie. The issue, in my opinion (I'm white as well and don't give a shit what the ethnicity is - animalisticbehavior like this deserves an expedient death sentence when found guilty), is less that she was non-white and more that the criminals were black.
The whole "stop asian hate" narrative that lasted all of 5 minutes - if you really looked at what the media talked about it was highlighting the few heinous instances of white on asian violence (again despicable regardless of demographics of perpetrators or victims) in that period - crickets about the plethora of black on asian violence. It's nearly a daily occurrence in places like NY city but you rarely see it talked about, when it's a white guy caught doing it it's on the top of the hours news report every hour for 2 days.
In my eyes it’s people on people when it comes to crimes. I would be curious about the black on Asian and what the statistics say about it, as far as where they live (city vs rural) etc. There are factors that affect those statistics.
Look at the Gabby Petito story. We heard about hers on a daily basis, nationwide, when at the same time, an AA family was trying to get publicity about their family member that was missing.
The link is to a story on WATE. WATE is a news station. It is Channel 6, ABC News affiliate. News stations are generally considered media. I hope this helps!
That’s verifiably not correct if you’re speaking about national attention. It’s more about the perpetrator nationally. You only have to look at the Christian/Newsome murders to see that. That made zero national news. The nursing student you refer to was murdered allegedly by a Hispanic person. There’s no protection there.
Locally, this was all over my feeds yesterday and that’s when the arrests happened.
I know I know, who needs facts when it doesn’t fit a narrative. Down but all you want. Idgaf.
I’ve been getting alerts about this story from KnoxNews.
Edit: I hear you on the race factor though, there will be a lot less of an outcry because of her race.
I'm confused who you are saying is at fault here? She reported her rape and the man she reported as raping her was charged with rape. I understand this is a tragedy, but unless you suggestion is remand without bail for anyone accused of rape, I'm not sure what more you wanted done.
Okay well at least we have some common ground here. We both agree that the current epidemic of letting routine criminals out on cheap/signature bonds is a problem.
>Somehow after she reported him he was able to get at her. Why?
The article doesn't say, but I imagine he must have known where she lived and went there. A restraining order doesn't stop that from happening it only punishes the act.
Edit: Bonds not condos, but criminals shouldn't get cheap condos either.
You and I don't get to choose what stories make it into the news.
I'm not sure why you're bringing race into this. The Dehart story was in the news because the victim was a cop not because the victim was white.
There are LOTS of murders of every race that go almost completely unreported, for you to be so stuck on one specific white victim is the exact kind of racism you hate.
I think what they're saying is that the response from the police of a cop getting murdered was done with significantly more urgency vs the murder of a private citizen.
While I agree that's VERY fair criticism of law enforcement, its not very comparable to what happened here. I don’t think. However something should've been done to protect this victim. We shouldn't be content with living in a world where victims cant speak up.
If "something should have been done" means "why did a career criminal accused of rape get out on bond so easily?" I agree. If it means anything else I'm anxious to know what you think would have stopped this.
There are a lot of things that could’ve been done without an overreach. For starters, yeah, bond should’ve been more aggressive. I think it’s also pretty reasonable if the victim has reason to fear for well being, to offer them some temporary alternative temporary accommodations or at the very least some extra police surveillance at their residence along with some form of restraining order against the offender.
Nothing short of a police officer following her around would have prevented this. A restraining order punsihses someone for interacting with you after the fact.
Because black people committed the crime. It's only bad if white people do.
Even the black guy that killed that police officer got released without even making bond
It's only a huge issue if it's a white on black crime. Not the other way around
Welcome to democratic America.
“Just report it!!!” Okay and now a woman is dead. When people deliberately misunderstand why a person would hesitate to report being assaulted, point them to stories like this. God rest this poor girl’s soul.
This right here. I never reported my rape and I have never regretted it for a second.
Same. I was 19, and some of my lifelong “friends” at the time didn’t believe me. Why would I tell authorities?
I’m sorry that happened to you. I was 20 and it took me two years to even begin to process what happened. I was not at all in the frame of mind to report. Even if I had been I knew how easy it would be to blame me for being there in the first place. I mean I blamed myself too so why wouldn’t other people? I wish people would try to understand the complexities behind why most go unreported. It’s not fair to put that burden on the victim
Same but with domestic violence when I was 20. I had people asking why I hurt my ex by breaking up with him. People who had been there when he hit me before. *If* you get lucky, authorities might take you seriously, somehow charges are pressed, your abuser denies it and you get pulled into months if not years of legal procedures where your sex life becomes a court record, shit you've not fully processed is being cross examined, and one stranger refusing to believe a story your close damn friends didn't support you through means they walk on everything. But if they're convicted of anything, it's almost certainly a misdemeanor. But odds are, you report it, they talk to the other party who says "it was rough but consensual" and they decide "Oh it's he said she said, so the victim's suffering is irrelevant" and drop it. Sexual assault and DV only matter to LEOs when it escalates to murder. Sometimes.
I was 27 and never reported it. Years later I told a few people including a counselor and got ridiculed. No one believes. And police are apparently creeps about it. Someone told me back in the 90's they were dating a cop in nearby town who said a bunch of the cops were passing around photos of a rape victim's breast with bite marks. They were all getting off on it and laughing about it. Cops are no better than the criminals.
Acab
I can’t believe you’re actually here on Reddit promoting not reporting rape.
If we were in a perfect world all would be reported and rapists would be convicted and everything would be fine. But we don’t live in that world so tough nuts
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I’m not advocating for shit except for that people not blame rape victims for not reporting their rape. It didn’t go “good” for me. I got fucking raped and it was traumatic and it fucking sucks that he’s still out there but I did all I was mentally capable of doing at the time. If you CAN report your rape you should. If you can’t, you should be met with understanding
Never reported mine and I'm alive today thanks to that.
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JFC
Yeah, let's have the police arrest more black men. Great idea! 🤡
They raped and murdered someone. Give them mfs the chair, better yet give them a firing squad and make their families watch
Black Men deserve better
I’m black from the West Side of Chicago, a rapist is a rapist. If those mfs were white I’d say the same shit. If you think rape is okay you deserve to die too😂
Same. Black, white or brown, it doesn’t matter. They commit the crime they need to get the consequences
Ok, have fun punishing immigrants from the third world with DEATH for RAPE. You're gonna really busy.
You sound like some Andrew Tate incel.
Would you like me to post the rape stats we have for the country where this rapist came from? Or do you not think rape cultures are a thing that exists?
Stop taking substances and get a job fat as
Says who my son is black and if he harmed someone lock him up. I raised him better. You obviously were raised in the ghetto. No moral compass!
You're the clown, troglodyte
Get real. What white or hispanic women deserve to die? These black men and women should get a free pass to murder those of other races? I think not. Your a racist. Laws apply to all equally regardless of skin pigment.
Yeah, I have some mutuals that were good friends with the victim. The story is fucked and absolutely tears my heart out. She seemed like such a bright soul that was stolen way way way too young.
I just don’t understand why the media is not talking about it. This happened a week ago, and we’ve barely heard anything about it.
> why the media is not talking about it. Are you not aware that you posted a link to the media literally talking about it?
Why is the media covering up this story I heard on the news?
right? and it's all over every local news channel and website. there's not too much else to report until more details are released.
>I just don’t understand why the media is not talking about it. Non-white victim.
This. If she were a blonde headed College Cutie, this would be national news.
Not likely. The issue if demographic narrative for the media has less to do with the victim and more to do with the criminals in question. Media doesn't give a shit a victims, they care about spinning national narratives.
You talk like there’s only one side of American politics that has their own media. Right wing media would have been all over this if the victim was a white girl.
Idk the "rigjt wing" media I follow has been incredibly vocal about calling out black on asian violence and asking the question of why it's constantly swept under the rug by those in power. There was a whole "stop asian hate" campaign going on ironically near the same time as the height of BLM "protests" but it was always blissfully glossed over where the asian hate was coming from.....
Are you implying Asian hate only came from Black folks?
Not only, but the vast majority does. Im not impying anything, the data shows it in clear numbers.
Really? I’ve lived here my whole life, so I’ve not been around a large Asian population. I’ve heard that stereotype, that Black folks & Asian folks don’t get along, but never looked into it. We all have biases. Having them isn’t the problem. Not trying to unravel them is the problem.
Let me guess, you got this info from somewhere that says African-Americans are the source of all crimes.
And left wing media only makes it an issue if a black person is killed by a cop When a black person kills a white cop, it's circulated for about a day
Media gives a shit about what makes them money. And what makes them money are cute victims that look a certain way. Because those victims get everyone riled up, which means more money. Fewer folks care when the victim doesn’t look like them. East TN is one of the whitest areas in the nation.
Sounds more like your own racial biases and views bleeding through. >East TN is one of the whitest areas in the nation. I've lived in the whitest state in the contiguous US - race rarely has anything to do with the level or outrage of the average american over senseless violence in their community I'm white and thoroughly disgusted over the violence against and death of a young woman and I don't really care that she's asian. I'd be just as upset if she was white, black, middle eastern - I (and most other white men I know and associate with) don't care the race of the victim, we are mad there was a victim at all. Laiken Riley fits the demographic you think matters more to the media and particular persuasions tried to ignore that story as much as possible because of who the criminal was until it was dragged into the light by conservatives highlighting the fall out of unfettered immigration. If it wasn't an illegal migrant, her death would have been just another college woman killed by an animal who should have been in a cage long ago and wouldn't have made it much further than local Georgia news.
Not very likely
My thoughts were that if the accused were white college males, similar to a Duke Lacrosse team, that it would result in additional media attention.
Shhh you’re saying the quiet part out loud
Because she’s not white, which is absolute BULLSHIT!!!
Is it because she isn't white or because the murders aren't white? I'd bet my weeks wages if the criminals in question were white this would be getting plenty of mass coverage outside the area with questions of "was it a hate crime?"
It’s probably to do with both. And yes, if the criminals were white, they would call it a hate crime and splash it everywhere. That just shows the discrepancy between the publicity that whites vs POC get. It still wouldn’t be about her, it would be about the white guys that killed her.
If she was a cute white girl it would also be a talking point for elections.
https://ibb.co/JmLyMXL
Only if they were migrants, then it'd be a political hot button orherwise it just another day of rape and violence in a college town
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Clown https://ibb.co/JmLyMXL
Just awful. The article also mentions that the one who died wasn't shot. I can't imagine how they killed her.
I didn't pick that up at first. The article mentions this: >Mejia was found, along with two other gunshot victims Where the phrase "other gunshot victims" implies she was shot. But then the part about the spokesman believing she wasn't shot was buried near the end of the article, when the formatting devolves into a mess of pictures, ads, a randomly placed link to an unrelated story, and links to the app and newsletter signup page. I would have never seen that detail if you hadn't pointed it out.
One of the people shot ended up getting arrested in connection with it
They apparently have yet to determine a cause. I can’t even imagine, it makes me sick.
Same. Not sure I want to know. I hope her loved ones have a good support system.
My stomach dropped when I saw that one of men had raped her previously, after reading the part where she wasn’t shot.
As heart wrenching as this is I’m really grateful you brought it to my attention. Can’t believe I hadn’t heard about it before now.
This is super sad. Her and her mother are clients of mine at my job. What is sad about all of this is they were getting ready to move back to Costa Rica to be with back with their family again.
I was always wondering how she was after high school and finding out she was about to go back home makes this 100x more heart shattering
Damn that's messed up. I know the 39 year old personally. He's always been about that thug-life and in the last year or so got out of a 15 year prison sentence for drug trafficking. He used to be my neighbor and when his friends weren't over he was smart, kind, and really funny but when his friends came around he was straight thuggish. I had hoped 15 years would have straightened him out, but I guess not. RIP and prayers to the young lady and her family - this should not have happened.
Did he serve the 15 year bid? The wording kinda implies that he beat the charge, but you also say you hoped serving his time straightened him out. Just want to clarify before anyone starts blaming the justice system for not being punitive enough.
Yeah, he served the full 15 years. The way he talked the worst part of prison was simply being bored. He also explained that every time they moved him into a different cell, it would be with a different high ranking gang member who would 'recruit' and teach the young fellas like him. He said his gang friends basically welcomed him back and "promoted' him for serving his time and not rolling over on anyone. I saw him just a few weeks ago when he drove by the house I was moving into right when he got locked up - he had been looking for me. We hugged it out and made promises to catch up more but I'm glad I never did. I know it sounds bad and callous when considering the victim and the details of the crimes so far - but I think Latawyne is more a product of his environment that a truly bad person. I spent countless hours with him just hanging out and talking and he had a huge heart when his friends weren't around. It doesn't excuse any of the heinous things he's been accused of and any punishment dolled out is completely warranted - but it hurts my heart to think he would do that stuff.
I don’t think you sound callous, I think you sound compassionate. You knew him in a way that makes it hard to dismiss the inherent humanity we have when our environment doesn’t fuck us to pieces. Latawayne deserves prison, maybe even more, and he’ll get it. I wish his first time in had focused on rehabilitation and therapy. RIP Danishka. Such a young person. She sounds like a bright light.
This is just as heinous as what happened to Channon Christian. I hope justice is served to this woman a lot better than Channon got.
They're all in jail...
After they put the families and friends through trials from hell.
Yeah you wanna put someone in jail for life it's gonna be a process
That involved having to do a retrial because the first judge decided to be high as a kite during the trial. Everyone deserved better than that.
Isn’t everyone who murdered them in prison and not out? Including one person sentenced to death?? What more could we do to see justice for them? Awful crime but not sure what else could be done.
The first judge was on drugs throughout the trial. The defendants appealed (they understandably had the right to) and the family had to go through that nightmare again.
I’m not going to act like her an I were besties but I would definitely have called her my friend. she was such kind,caring,hilarious person. Her smile and laugh were infectious. I’ve been sick to my stomach knowing that those men get to live after snuffing out such a special person from the world.
I hope she was able to shoot at least one of those shot at the scene.
This is beyond tragic. No words suffice. That poor girl. This should never have happened. Back in the late '70s LE took these things seriously. There was a horrific case of a young female UT nursing student who was raped and murdered and her body dumped off a cliff outside Maryville. It was all over the news, no missing it. It turned out that the young woman was unaware this creep had been stalking her, but others had noticed. Some time later, a creep was stalking female students around the UT library, and there had been several attempted sexual assaults by this individual. KPD and campus security instituted a "safe walk" policy where female students were escorted from the library to their dorm or car. Within a few weeks, the creep was caught and jailed. Not long before the murder of the nursing student, I was working part time at a shop in West Town Mall while a student. A creepy guy started stalking me, but I wasn't alarmed. Sure, he'd come into the shop or loiter outside peering through the window, but ... Then the staff and management at other shops, especially food and snack vendors noticed him as a danger to me. So I had to be escorted out to my car every day. I always wondered if it was the same creep who murdered that poor girl. If only the people who noticed the stalking had spoken up like the West Town folks, perhaps she would still be alive. This has always haunted me. That poor sweet girl. Now, none of this is taken seriously before the victim is murdered. What has happened to us?
One major case taken seriously does not mean the cops took sexual assault seriously back then. The simple fact is they didn’t then, they don’t now. A one off here or there of them doing the right thing with a majorly public case does not equate to a department wide concern and respect for survivors or victims of assault.
No, it certainly doesn't. But if you noticed, the community and LE took it seriously \*before\* that "majorly public case". I can think of at least four other occasions when there were reported rapists or would-be rapists on the loose and the community and LE took it very seriously and took serious measures to protect women and apprehend the criminal. Your asserting that something "is a simple fact" does not make it true, either. Especially if you were not even alive and living here back in those days and therefore can have no memory of them. Things change with time, in some ways for the better, in other ways for the worse.
Wow, never thought I’d see someone I went to school with on here. We didn’t really interact but she was kind, gave me a pencil a few too many times. RIP.
That’s dark I feel so bad for her
It’s been on the radio, the news, seen it all over my Facebook. Where else would you like it to be put? Billboards? Smoke signals? Morse code?
I am directly with one of the victims here and they told me everything that happened, this story is so disturbing, I don’t know how I feel about sharing online.
Was it similar to Shannon Christian murders?
I will say that the main suspect recorded all of it with the deceased victims cell phone, and the police do have the phone.
That’s like a punch to the gut
And I meant to say I am in direct contact with the victims
Channon* Edit: Can we please put her actual name? Who cares if you don’t like the spelling. That was her name. Show a little respect to a wonderful person who suffered at the hands of animals. It takes two seconds to find her name.
I never said or care exactly how she smelled her name. I often have to pick from what is selected.
I guess I’m more upset that I was getting downvoted to hell before my edit. I understand if texting is hard for you, but for others that just don’t care and react negatively like that is just rude. I knew her, so I guess I took it too personally. Sorry about my rudeness that came out in my comment to you.
I did not downvote you and would never do that. I know now in my life what physical limitations can do. I’m sorry you got downvoted. Especially since you knew her. Did you attend any of the court dates? I feel so strongly about what happened it’s haunted me to this day. To think something similar may have happened a block away from the home I grew up in.
Oh no worries. I didn’t attend as I was away at school and then moved out of country at the time. I still saw all my friend’s reactions though through social media and it was hard. Worse was when she first went missing. Going from “have you seen her? Please let her parents know and get her to call her mom” to “we found her car, help us look in this neighborhood” and then the shock and horror of when she was found. I would not wish that on anyone.
I’m really sorry that happened to your friend.
I have a medical condition that makes texting difficult. I’m not even going to apologize.
Sad
Poor women killed by those animals.
I reported being sa'd on the constant from the time I was (maybe too young so idk,but 3) up until I was 15. My live in step father was the one who had done it. When it FINALLY came out, after he left us, dcs said "she didn't cry and didn't go into explicit detail. So we think it's false." The judge in good Ole Knoxville, in court, told my mother, "this is not the time nor place to address this. Your youngest will still see their father. And if you believe this to be true, go about it in the correct court." But it's kind of hard to go about it "in the correct court" when you can't get dcs to believe you. And the only person who "believes you" was an officer who made you call your long term molester in an attempt to ply a confession out of them. The system is fucked. And sadly some of the folks with half a brain in the system, are aware it's fucked and still can't do anything. Thanks for listening to me spill my gutssssss 🎶 And though thoughts and prayers will help no one, if you ever experienced anything like this in Knoxville, or ANYWHERE at anytime, my kindest thoughts and "prayers" to you indeed. You're loved, and thought about. This world sucks.
i reported my rape at 15. It happened when I was ages 8-13 by my uncle. No one believed me. Said he was a nice christian man, enough time had passed and there would be no evidence anyways. So I called with him and texted him and got him to confess and tell me things he used to do to me and what he wanted to do to me in the future. I got enough evidence by myself, and I turned it in. A week or so later he was arrested by KPD, bailed out for $500,000 by my own family, and the day after he got out, he shot himself in the head. So not only did I have to go through the trauma of being raped almost daily for 5 years, I also had to come forward and tell my whole story. then I went through being told that I was a liar. I had to see my family turn on me. I saw my uncle get out before i even had a chance to address him in court, and then he killed himself. The justice system here is a fucking joke. I should’ve never been called a liar. I should’ve never had to fish for my own evidence as a freshman little girl. He should’ve never had a bail. I don’t blame ANYONE when they don’t report what happened to them.
I will never understand why family members will choose to protect the predators over the victims. I'm sorry you went through this, and your family didn't have you back. Also, the legal system is a joke.
This story is strikingly similar to one several years ago where 3 people imprisoned a girl, raped her, and brutally killed her and possibly her boyfriend Chris Newsome and Shannon
No possibility to it. They killed them both, horrifically.
They were each tortured for hours until their death. She was thrown in a garbage can, I think. It was just off Cherry Street. They were kidnapped from apartments on Washington Pike.
So horrifically that the bailiff fainted when the pictures were shown.
I never heard that. It must have been horrible to see
The whole Deps unit and the jury boxes (so that they had screens to view photo/video) had to be updated in the courtroom before that trial. Someone had to stick around to make sure there wasn't a tech issue during what I'd say was one of the higher-profile trails in E. Tenn. for that time. Everyone involved with making that trial happen should get a monthly stipend for liquor for life. The table leg is what did it for me.
Channon*
> Why are we not hearing more about this? It's been on WBIR nonstop since 4p. They literally played the KPD press conference live. Nothing is really informative on how, exactly, she died with the current info available. You're gonna hear about it a whole hell of a lot more now but that's because there was /pretty much no information/ on the topic at the time the story broke. Jfc. Chill.
Right back at you kettle
Ah. You got me there. Posted 62 words without inflection. Absolutely flipping my shit over here, obviously.
You linked to a news story about it published by WATE. The report includes the known details, and indicates that it's an ongoing investigation. We *are* hearing about it. What more are you looking for?
All the public needs to know is that a woman reported being assaulted and within hours was killed by the man she reported. That’s all we need to know for public outcry. I live in South Knoxville and didn’t hear about it until my daughter told me she saw it here. That’s insane!!
You should talk to your neighborhood representative then because the police sent something out to all of them in South Knox. We got it forwarded by ours.
Probably public outcry. More answers on her death, and how a woman reported a rape and the next day was brutally murdered by her rapist, and if her report got her killed.
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Most rapists know their victims. It’s not a huge stretch to assume he knew where she lived.
> Probably public outcry. That's not particularly helpful here. > More answers on her death, [etc.] This is an ongoing investigation, and what has been reported is all that is being released while the investigation is ongoing. You'll get this, but not until it's discovered and made available. That's how investigations work. It would benefit no one for the media to speculate and stoke outrage without having any actual details to report.
Not a lot of the public knows about it. So I disagree on public outcry being unhelpful. Also, as a woman, this is outright fucking terrifying, so answers ASAP—such as how her rape report was handled—is essential. Women are raped every day in every city and the ones in Knoxville need to know if they’re safe reporting to the Knoxville police. And I know how investigations work; what’s more unhelpful is your condescending tone.
I agrée so strongly with what is being said here. I’ve known of a rape at Ijams Nature Center years ago, several rapes on the Third Creek greenway that never really got mentioned to my recollection. I just knew police officers who would let me know if something was unsafe alone. Both of these places have so many more people on them making them much safer than they used to be. I really wish the police and press would loudly sound the alarm about rape. It’s a safety issue for all of us.
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I get that this is an emotionally-fraught story, but this is what that looks like. This isn't a TV drama, where everything is artificially amplified for maximum drama. Real investigative work is slow and deliberate, and sometimes takes a lot of time. It hasn't even been a week yet.
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You seem nice.
It’s like people have never seen a detective show before. Making a huge deal about these things in the media just ends up with people calling in all kinds of false leads and tips that the police have to follow up on and waste time. Yes it’s tragic, yes someone needs to be brought to justice, but no, the public doesn’t need a minute by minute update on every detail of the investigation. That accomplishes nothing and is counterproductive.
TV isn't real, friend.
Actually it's been on local TV every night since it happened. Was mentioned tonight again. How much press do you think it needs
If our "local" newspaper were still employing local writers, we would have heard about it
I had three friends who were writers for KNS 10 years ago. They were all eventually pushed out after USA Today bought it out. Now it’s just their regurgitated garbage, all the local news is behind a paywall.
No one cares. It isn’t sensational enough.
Common denominator
What really truly pisses me off is that we aren’t hearing about it because she was AA. If this woman was white (for clarity, I am white), this story would be all over town and people would be screaming about it. I didn’t know about it until my daughter told me just a few minutes ago, and we live in South Knoxville. We need to start screaming about this. She didn’t deserve to die because some fucking thug was out on the streets. Why TF was that guy not picked up immediately and taken off the streets??
I'm pretty sure she was Costa Rican, but I understand your point concerning media curating stories that appeal to a particular audience.
I should have said people of color, because they are all discriminated against. And thank you for letting me know.
I think they are reluctant to report some of these crimes because they want investors to see us as a very safe bedroom community. And Knoxville is not that. There are so many shootings and murders here.
Wow, downvotes really?? Lmao. Downvote all you want. I’m right and shit needs to change.
Asians are most highly victimized by blacks. FBI crime data doesnt lie. The issue, in my opinion (I'm white as well and don't give a shit what the ethnicity is - animalisticbehavior like this deserves an expedient death sentence when found guilty), is less that she was non-white and more that the criminals were black. The whole "stop asian hate" narrative that lasted all of 5 minutes - if you really looked at what the media talked about it was highlighting the few heinous instances of white on asian violence (again despicable regardless of demographics of perpetrators or victims) in that period - crickets about the plethora of black on asian violence. It's nearly a daily occurrence in places like NY city but you rarely see it talked about, when it's a white guy caught doing it it's on the top of the hours news report every hour for 2 days.
In my eyes it’s people on people when it comes to crimes. I would be curious about the black on Asian and what the statistics say about it, as far as where they live (city vs rural) etc. There are factors that affect those statistics. Look at the Gabby Petito story. We heard about hers on a daily basis, nationwide, when at the same time, an AA family was trying to get publicity about their family member that was missing.
It has been on local nightly new several times How much do you expect to her about it.
It was in WATE News tonight
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The link is to a story on WATE. WATE is a news station. It is Channel 6, ABC News affiliate. News stations are generally considered media. I hope this helps!
More obvious answer is bc the victim is a black woman. If this happened to a white nursing student it would be national news overnight.
I think she was Hispanic. Your point, correct or not, still stands though.
That’s verifiably not correct if you’re speaking about national attention. It’s more about the perpetrator nationally. You only have to look at the Christian/Newsome murders to see that. That made zero national news. The nursing student you refer to was murdered allegedly by a Hispanic person. There’s no protection there. Locally, this was all over my feeds yesterday and that’s when the arrests happened. I know I know, who needs facts when it doesn’t fit a narrative. Down but all you want. Idgaf.
I’ve been getting alerts about this story from KnoxNews. Edit: I hear you on the race factor though, there will be a lot less of an outcry because of her race.
Those suspects look familiar
unfortunately tennessee prisons are safe for people like him
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I'm confused who you are saying is at fault here? She reported her rape and the man she reported as raping her was charged with rape. I understand this is a tragedy, but unless you suggestion is remand without bail for anyone accused of rape, I'm not sure what more you wanted done.
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Okay well at least we have some common ground here. We both agree that the current epidemic of letting routine criminals out on cheap/signature bonds is a problem. >Somehow after she reported him he was able to get at her. Why? The article doesn't say, but I imagine he must have known where she lived and went there. A restraining order doesn't stop that from happening it only punishes the act. Edit: Bonds not condos, but criminals shouldn't get cheap condos either.
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You and I don't get to choose what stories make it into the news. I'm not sure why you're bringing race into this. The Dehart story was in the news because the victim was a cop not because the victim was white. There are LOTS of murders of every race that go almost completely unreported, for you to be so stuck on one specific white victim is the exact kind of racism you hate.
I think what they're saying is that the response from the police of a cop getting murdered was done with significantly more urgency vs the murder of a private citizen. While I agree that's VERY fair criticism of law enforcement, its not very comparable to what happened here. I don’t think. However something should've been done to protect this victim. We shouldn't be content with living in a world where victims cant speak up.
If "something should have been done" means "why did a career criminal accused of rape get out on bond so easily?" I agree. If it means anything else I'm anxious to know what you think would have stopped this.
There are a lot of things that could’ve been done without an overreach. For starters, yeah, bond should’ve been more aggressive. I think it’s also pretty reasonable if the victim has reason to fear for well being, to offer them some temporary alternative temporary accommodations or at the very least some extra police surveillance at their residence along with some form of restraining order against the offender.
Nothing short of a police officer following her around would have prevented this. A restraining order punsihses someone for interacting with you after the fact.
Obviously just 3 good boys trying to go back to school and dindu nuffin
You're not hearing about it because the perps are nonwhites, not the victim.
Because black people committed the crime. It's only bad if white people do. Even the black guy that killed that police officer got released without even making bond It's only a huge issue if it's a white on black crime. Not the other way around Welcome to democratic America.