or a personal motive?


rocktivity

Why doesn't it say "Black Woman shot". for example, instead in the headline? Or, since she is a prominent activist, identify her by name?

In fact, it says the exact opposite:

"I asked if they were looking at it as a hate crime, but the officer told me that she doesn't believe that's the direction they're going toward."

That is really my only claim here.

even if law enforcement (as usual) is attempting to downplay that.

I think that is the reason.

Even with the logical explanations below, how about just "Woman shot..."
with explanation of her activism in body of story. Even "Prominent Lesbian Activist" would make sense, if that is the case. But just "Lesbian" makes it sound like that is her entire identity, which is part of the problem IMHO.

Couldn't agree more.

....the headline is totally out of line.

In addition to being a lesbian, she was:

A woman
A black person
A Protestant
Married
A mother of two children
A professional child advocate

and any number of other demographics. Zeroing in on her sexual orientation is disgustingly unnecessary.

However, I'm curious why the article highlights the victim' sexual preference when the article clearly states that the motive of the shooting was unclear, the police do not know whether the fact the Ms. Jones was a lesbian played any roll in her murder, and indications were that this was not a hate crime.

The murder is bad enough without creating fear that someone is targeting lesbians.

It is more than a little odd.

Check the link.

However, as others have also noted, the clear implication was that her sexual preference was the motive for her murder. It's sloppy and has the potential to create unnecessary fear. The fact that it was a LGBT periodical made the need to mention her sexual preference in the title all the more unnecessary absent actual relevance to the murder.

I'm straight, but the phrase "sexual preference" always makes me cringe just a tiny bit.

It's tragic story, where a woman was shot -- but why do we need to know her sexual orientation?

the headline certainly seems to imply what for though - strange

Given the absolute randomness of the act there is very little to go on.

very weird

If so, they're a crap journalist. Was just saying regarding the information we had. Seems more like they are merely providing public info.

All the more important to discover motive and find out who would target her.

Condolences to her family and friends. What a horrible thing to happen.

Which makes her murder all the more suspicious IMO.

The evidence we have suggests she was targeted for some reason. That reason could be relevant to her sexual orientation.

Thank you.

I do suspect the person who killed her knew her. We can't know why she was killed with only the limited information in the article.

Assuming the stalker realized the outcome they wished was impossible. Pow, cap, dead. Outcome gone.

It would be absurd to immediately assume that the orientation (and subsequent breakup) is not the cause or motivation for the murderer.

The guy waited for her.

Spurned lover?

Paid hit man?

Hate crime?

Who knows?

Last edited Sat Jan 17, 2015, 05:22 PM - Edit history (3)

Hope they're looking at her ex-husband and kids (one of whom may be outraged that she married a woman). Investigate her spouse's family, as well -- maybe the motive was to "punish" HER with widowhood.

Better check her client list, too. In her line of work, you're dealing with people who can get quite cranky about their parenting skills being second-guessed. A child welfare services worker was stabbed 21 times in New Jersey -- two days after budget cuts removed the agency's specially-trained security squad (link).

Either way, it's sounding less and less like a hate crime.


rocktivity

This looks like a professional hit done by someone who knows what he's doing. The shooter knew her routine and was waiting for her. He never looked up at the security cameras (my guess he knew where they were located) and he acted in a calm manner.

The gunman is described as a heavyset black male wearing black clothing and carrying a black duffle bag. Investigators are reviewing video footage from SEPTA, Temple and city cameras to continue looking for clues.

He had parked three miles away from the crime scene where he waited to ambush the woman.