The murder of Veronia Benson

A cat is set on fire on a Chester street and tip lines light up with people who want to drop a dime on the suspect.

I don’t condone animal abuse. But I am routinely besieged by people who believe we make too much of it when bad things happen to animals, and not nearly enough of it when the same happens to a human being.

They have a point.

This weekend a 23-year-woman walked out of a relative’s home in Chester and went to get in her car. A man walked up to her, stuck a gun in her chest and pulled the trigger at point-blank range.

Vernonica Benson, the mother of a 2-year-old daughter, was trying to turn her life around. She had moved into an apartment in another town, was taking part in a program called “Wings for Success” and was on her way to starting a new career.

But a trip back to visit relatives brought her back to the mean streets of Chester. And to the gun violence that continues to plague parts of the city.

It would be nice if the same kind of outrage that is voiced when something horrific happens to an animal is voiced when the tragedy is all too human.

Anyone with information on Benson’s murder is asked to contract county Detective Michael Palmer at 610-891-4700, or Chester Detective Patrick Mullen at 610-447-7908.

This morning we are dealing with another savage case of animal abuse.
This time it happened in Chadds Ford, where two family pet dogs were found shot to death and left tail-to-tail near some railroad tracks.

No doubt there will be another outpouring of emotion and anger. And no shortage of calls to a tip line seeking information in that case.

I hope the same can be said of the savage shooting of Veronica Benson.

Comments

Anonymous said…
I am one of the cousin's of Veronica Benson murdered on October 23, 2009. I live in MD. I needed to send your story out for reward money requests, but noticed her name mispelled in the title and again in the body of the text. Her name was Veronica. Not Veronia or Vernonica. Thank you.

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