Turn of Phrase - A Mother's Love for a Murderer

Clothing designer
and murderer,
Jeffrey Johnson

"I don’t blame police in New York for shooting my son because he killed somebody, but for me, he hasn’t changed. 

He’s still the kindhearted, caring person who loved all kinds of animals and I’m sure he loved us. 

You know a mother always tries to look for the best in you."

- From the mother of Jeffrey Johnson, after learning her son murdered a co-worker last week in midtown Manhattan. In a subsequent showdown with police, Johnson was shot and killed on the sidewalk in front of the Empire State Building.

So many people were physically or emotionally injured or destroyed in this single incident - Steven Ercolino (the 41 year-old murder victim), his grieving family, the 9 pedestrians who all survived but were hit by stray bullets during the shootout, the police officers who were involved, and of course Jeffrey Johnson.

There's so much more to a news story than we get in the headlines and initial reporting. In America, our attention span is short and we move on quickly to the next big thing, seldom taking time to consider the enormous ripple effect of events like this. For me, Jeffrey Johnson's mother provides a poignant reminder.