Murder Of A High School Student, Betty Pinkey

Over the weekend, a student from my school was murdered while she attended a party on the northeast side of the Las Vegas Valley.  There has been a lot of talk about the murder- by the students, some teachers and the local newspapers and television stations.
From the LVRJ today: Diana Perry plays back the worst night of her life over and over in her head, wondering "What if? What if?" as she looks at her wristband from the house party. She won't take it off. It proves the nightmare was real.
Mere moments before her 17-year-old girlfriend died in her arms from a stray bullet early Sunday, they were dancing the night away at the party. Then she was kneeling on the floor, holding the hand of Betty "Jay" Pinkney, who was squeezing tight as she convulsed and gasped for air.
Perry's other hand pressed hard on Pinkney's blood-drenched side to try to stop the spreading red.
Pinkney's good friend Amber Robertson felt for her pulse.
"I felt one heartbeat and that was it," a sobbing Robertson said Tuesday. "It was hard. She was my best friend."
Police arrived shortly after.
"I stayed with her until they forced me off," Perry said, chuckling softly as she remembered something. "My wallet is actually at the morgue with her right now. I would call her my gentleman. She'd carry my things." http://www.lvrj.com/news/teen-s-slaying-leaves-questions-among-friends-137550238.html
I am a special education teacher who works with the severely disabled and because of this, I don't know very many regular education students.  If I know 10 regular education students by name at our school of 2000 students, that's probably a high number.
I know Betty and the reason why I know Betty is that just about every morning, she would come up to some of severely disabled students and give them a big, big hug.  She didn't have to, she wanted to.  She has done this for about 2 years or so, so this is what I remember about Betty.
But if you read many of the comments of the commentators of the LVRJ story, they are calling her father irresponsible or that she is a gang because she wore red in some pictures on Facebook and was throwing gang symbols and other uninformed comments.
I am sure her father is second guessing himself now and will be forever.  He trusted his daughter because his daughter gained his trust, like a good daughter does.
For me, I was never popular in school, so I don't know about parties and staying out late.  But I can make a reasonable argument that late night parties on long weekends for high school kids have been going on for many decades.  It didn't just start this past weekend or year.  Further, there has been no evidence that there was any booze or drugs at the party.  It has not been reported in the media or by the cops or students and no one has been cited for underage drinking.
As far as the gang issue.  Have you ever listened to local radio?  Many local talk show hosts and DJ's want to sound gangster.  That includes the 4 talks show hosts on ESPN radio in the afternoon.  They want to sound like gangsters.  Don't even get me started on the rap music stations.
As for the color red, it was her favorite color- she wore it everyday, though because of our school dress code, she had to hide it.  On Tuesday, the first school day after the shooting, about 100 or more kids wore red in honor of Betty.  I guess all those kids were gangster as well- not.
The last few days has been traumatic for the students and staff at my school and especially for Betty's family and her friends.  She was a popular kid who was going to do great things, though every morning, she did something great for our disabled kids.
Besides the hateful comments made out of ignorance, there also has been some behavior I am not impressed about: Where has been the outcry from city officials, especially those who claim to represent African Americans in Las Vegas?  Where are you, Ricki Barlow and Bob Coffin of the Las Vegas City Council, where are you, Lawrence Weekly and the rest of you liberal Democrats on the Clark County Commission, where are you, inner city clergy members?  Why are you not speaking up about this murder of young innocent young girl who was killed for no reason at all.  why have you been silent?  Do you accept these kind of killings and if so, why?
And Ricki Barlow, you especially ought to be ashamed.  You make yearly visits to my school and pretend you care but I guess when it really matters, you are nowhere to be seen.
Finally, there are people who know what happened and who did the shooting.  I know is because I heard you talking in the hallways and out in the Quad.  Do you honestly think Betty would want you to be quiet?  You are hurting her legacy by being quiet and letting murderous thugs out on the street.
So, R.I.P., Betty, I know you are in a better place and I hope you are giving hugs to those in need while wearing red.  And prayers to her families and friends as they go through these tough times.  Please remember the good times and honor her by talking to the cops about who committed this murder.

As an aside, previous to this school year, when a high school student attending a CCSD high school, a school could hold something called a "Miracle Minute".  This is where the Student Council would organize a donation for the family of the deceased.  During announcements, students and staff could donate any amount of money they wanted, if they wanted to donate.  At our school, we would raise several hundred dollars, up to and sometimes over $1000 for the family to use to help with expenses.
However, this year CCSD decided that schools can no longer do this, so the Pinkney family will not be able to benefit from the "Miracle Minute" from our school.  While technically, CCSD may have a valid point as to why they no longer have the "Miracle Minute", emotionally and financially for the family, I think they are wrong.