By Leah Bomar
Cold-blooded killer or a scared friend?
Have you ever wondered why your life ended up the way it did? How would things change if you made one single, simple decision differently? How does a seemingly intelligent college student, or any self-respecting person, end up becoming a killer? Last week, a fellow classmate of mine, 20-year-old University of Louisville student Alex Jones, was arrested in Connecticut for the murder of a couple in their home. In October, 22-year-old Ryan Lumpkin was arrested in Louisville after fleeing from the scene of a crime where a 30-year-old mother of four was shot and killed in her own home as her daughters slept upstairs.
Both crimes seem to be heinous and malicious, according to news stories broadcast on TV. Given that three innocent people were murdered in their own home and the lives of countless friends and families were affected forever, you would think both of these young men deserve to be locked away for the rest of their lives: retribution for taking the life of another human being. Justice, as they call it in our country. But who really knows the true story of what happened in the split seconds leading up to the moment a decision was made to pull out a gun?
All I personally know from the Alex Jones investigation is what was shown on TV. In the case of Ryan Lumpkin, the media portrayed him as a “drifter” from Chicago who had no ties to the area. After the shooting happened, Lumpkin fled the scene, leaving his friend behind to call 911, though there was no saving the woman. Her family explained that she took on two “boarders” to help out a friend, and was killed as a result of this decision. Regardless of the circumstances leading up to her death, the media often reports one-sided and misleading information, wooing the public’s opinion away from other unreported facts.
There are a few facts I can say are true for sure in Lumpkin’s case. He has definite ties to this community and a legitimate reason to be here. In 1995, Lumpkin moved from Chicago to Louisville to live with his aunt, uncle, and cousins, who happened to live around the corner from where I grew up. We took him under our wing as a friend, and he always treated us with love and respect. Lumpkin attended Fern Creek High School for several years and was even a staff artist for The Roaring Times, of which I was the editor-in-chief. He was an amazingly skilled basketball player, artist, talented writer of poetry and music, and had dreams of becoming an R&B singer and rapper.
After moving to Chicago in 1998, when Lumpkin informed friends and family he was moving back to Louisville in September of this year, we were happy to have him home. He explained moving as an attempt to improve his life by getting away from the drugs, gang violence, and fast-paced lifestyle of the big city. Then, unthinkable tragedy struck here. The life of an innocent woman was taken, and my friend is held responsible.
While the media reported a “cold-blooded killer” on the loose, a scared friend’s life was about to change. After turning himself in with the support of a lawyer the next day, Lumpkin was charged with first-degree murder. He contends the death was an accident that happened after struggling with a friend over a gun; it went off, killing the woman who was letting them stay with her. Very few people will ever know exactly what happened that dark night, but many live with the consequences daily.
In a split second, my talented friend turned into a prison inmate and a “murderer.” The cold, hard reality is that a mother of four young girls is dead, as well as someone’s mother and father in Connecticut. No defense, excuse, or reasoning will ever change these facts. The question of whether the Louisville death was intentional or accidental will be left up to a jury, yet the media has already conducted a trial of sorts by judging these men and labeling them “cold-blooded killers.”
It is disheartening to realize that two people I personally know are capable of taking the life of another human being, but who are we to judge? The public often has limited facts. Next time you hear the evening news reporting a seemingly open-and-shut case of cold-blooded murder, don’t be so judgemental. Truth and facts are not always what they seem. You cannot believe everything you hear or read; there are many dimensions to life and death, and several sides to every sad story.
