May The Memory of Maggie Motivate Us To Get Louder, Take Action & Demand More

By Aragorn Batsford, Huntington Resident

So this tragic murder of Maggie Rosales (RIP) is undoubtedly a flashpoint for us as a community. Regardless of the details, our grievances with our county and town’s elected officials and the misallocation of police resources to our communities does not waiver. Among many others who have expressed their emotions and passions and thoughts on this subject I offer my recent musing.

I may not live on Lynch or East 9th (I did in 1985-1986) but I do live down the street from two Pius Section 8 houses that relentlessly provide anxiety to those of us in that neighborhood. My little girl once stepped on a hypodermic needle carelessly tossed out of a vehicle traveling to those houses at high rates of speed, in the dead of night with their music blaring. I am no stranger to the feelings of compromised safety. However, it is my personal perception that most of the violent crime being perpetrated in the TOH are isolated and target specific; not random violence that causes me and my family to live in fear on a regular basis. My wife shops at the community market on Depot Rd. and I have no reservations about traveling through the main thoroughfares of the station day or night. I have seen Huntington Station’s relegation to, what some who actually live in its borders refer to as, “the ghetto” over the past 28 years since I lived there. While I would never call it that, there is no question I would not want to still be living in the home I once snuggled with my late grandmother at night.

To me, the details of the homicide that occurred Sunday night is of paramount importance in maintaining my level of comfort I just described. As of yet the investigation does not warrant the disclosure of a motive or suspect. I respect the police’s efforts in determining the motive and suspect(s) and will be patient (to a point) in awaiting this information. Regarding the police’s culture of sharing information with the public, I am aware of one previous death and possibly murder of which the details are seemingly yet to be made clear. It was the young woman found in the park several years back. The conjecture I am aware of (mostly from the writings on FB) is that it wasn’t so much a murder as it was drug related and that the body may have been moved because the people that were with the woman didn’t want to deal with her dead or dying body, so they moved her to the park. Of course this is entirely my interpretation, but the point is, to my knowledge, as a community do we know if it was considered a murder by the SCPD? At the very least we should know that simple fact.

As much as we must take on responsibility at the individual level (and at the community level, too) to make inquiries and do our own research, it is not unreasonable to expect the police force sworn to serve the community and the town government elected by the community to provide some level of reassurances that the trust we have in them is well placed. Where are the press conferences by the SCPD representative? Where is the Town Supervisor’s public comments and condolences over the last few days? I would think that a collective statement by the town board is more important to the community than a photo op at a bank opening.

In the case of this tragic stabbing the other night, it is entirely a different situation than that of the woman found in the park and that difference is clearly it was a murder. I believe, in the context of the point I am making, the motive behind this murder is of the utmost concern. Not to take anything away from the concern for the family of this young woman nor to say this murder/death is any more or less important than that of any victim of a crime that has occurred in the TOH. What I mean is that knowing if this was a random act of violence is what may mean the difference between this event becoming another distant memory and it sustaining the obvious rally cry it has elicited since Monday morning.

Let’s say that this was: gang related, like some sick initiation thing; or a strung out drug addict robbing her; or a sexual predator that she tried to fight off to her demise; or some violent resident of that neighborhood who just happened to find this poor unfortunate soul in the wrong place at the wrong time. If this is in line with the motive I believe it will have a drastic impact on the community’s already compromised feeling of safety in these neighborhoods.

Now let’s consider that the motive may be one of the following: Angry boyfriend, angry classmate, mistaken identity, drug related – and i mean that this young lady was somehow associated with drug dealing or buying, which I sincerely doubt. Any of these motives reinforce my perception that most of the really violent crimes being perpetrated in the TOH are isolated and target specific; not random. But, that shouldn’t diminish the recent emotions and passions that have been flaring up since this murder occurred.

The two points I am attempting to make are: 1) we must understand the motive sooner than later and not let the police or town officials off the hook with the disclosure of this information. If they have hard evidence that this young woman was targeted and it will not affect their investigation we should know NOW and 2) regardless of the motive and regardless of whether most crimes are random or not, the voice of the community should continue to rise with “we expect better than this!”

The unbelievable amount of negligence involved in over-development; the “revitalization” hack-job; the continued lack of effective enforcement in terms of slum rentals, drug activity, gang presence, immigration violations (not to get all Federal here), etc… just invites more of this kind of crime. The wasteful spending and fiscal irresponsibility at town and county levels continues to put pressure on available funding for the SCPD. The vanity, power addiction, corruption and ineffectiveness the elected officials seem to be afflicted with is disgusting.

If we want to see some serious change in this community we need more community meetings and action committees; we need to swarm town hall meetings and get on public record; we need to hold accountable those who are elected; we need to see brave souls step up to run for elected office; and most importantly we need to vote against the incumbent (let alone establish term limits). In the words of the great ass-hat Rahm Emanuel “You never want a serious crisis to go to waste”. With all due respect to Maggie and her family (to whom I offer my deepest sympathy), if her death motivates us to get louder, take action and demand more than so be it. May the memory of Maggie live on in our community’s endeavor for safety and prosperity.

10/15/2014