Sharon Conroy's plea: Never again

Sharon Childs Conroy is a slight, frail-looking woman. No doubt her burden is that much heavier these days, knowing what happened to her son.

I had the chance to meet her yesterday when she stopped by the office to deliver a photo of Sean Patrick Conroy.

If the name’s familiar, it should be. He’s the Starbucks manager who was confronted by a group of teen thugs on a SEPTA subway platform. Conroy was stricken and died.

So far five teens have been charged in his death.

Conroy had a lot of ties to Delaware County. He lived for a time in Upper Darby and attended Upper Darby High School. His mother still lives in Lansdowne.

Conroy was buried last week from St. Cyril of Alexandria Church in East Lansdowne.

His mother decided to talk to us because she wanted people to know what happened to her son. In particular she never wants anyone to forget. And most importantly, she wants to be sure nothing like what happened to her son ever happens to anyone else.

Since the fatal attack on Sean Conroy, two other people, a man and a woman, have been assaulted in the underground maze that makes up the SEPTA system.

Ironically, just hours after we talked to Conroy’s mother, we heard from SEPTA officials.

They are beefing up security on subway platforms, in particular during the 2-5 p.m. after-school hours during which problems with gangs of youths have been reported.

They will put 30 more officers on the subway platforms, going from 60 to 90 uniforms during those critical hours. It’s going to cost about $17,000 in overtime.

If it saves one life, if it prevents what happened to Sean Patrick Conroy from ever happening again, it will be well worth it.

And it will provide some relief, some closure, to the nightmare that has shattered the life of his mother.

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