This week started out pretty much like all the others. The alarm went off at 6:15a.m. Monday morning, and I hit the “snooze” a couple of times before turning on the TV to check out the weather forecast for the day. It’s not that I’m not a “morning person,” I just have to “ease” into my day. I cannot jump out of bed the instant my eyes pop open in the morning; I need a little time to reconcile my senses with the arrival of each new day.
Anyway, I woke up and flipped on the TV, expecting to see Larry Handley’s smiling face, telling me if I needed a jacket, an umbrella, or my sunglasses for the day. I also braced myself for the “usual.” You know, the shootings, stabbings, robberies, rapes, home invasions… what have you…that occurred over the weekend. Since moving to Cincinnati, I have come to truly realize what a “depraved” world it is in which we live. I guess I always knew, it’s just now it is in my face every day. No wonder I’d rather sit at home with my TV and computers.
But Monday morning was different for me. The lead story was about a seventh grade student form the School For Creative And Performing Arts who had been found murdered over the weekend. I am familiar with the school because a co-worker and friend…Angie…has a son who attends the school. I realized it couldn’t be Julian because he is a sophomore, but my curiosity had been piqued.
Then Kathrine Nero broke the story…Esme Kenney, a 13-year old, had gone for a jog on a running path near her home Saturday afternoon and not returned. Her body was found in the woods early Sunday morning. Luckily, the police had also apprehended the one responsible for her death and were actually questioning him when Esme's body was found. As murders go, that was pretty quick, I thought.
Then they showed a picture of Esme…
Next they showed her murderer, Anthony Kirkland, being arraigned and said he was a registered sex offender.
The news did not give any of the particulars surrounding her death, but I “just knew” this poor child had been made to suffer horrific atrocities at the hands of this vile man. I could not stop thinking about her as I went about my morning routine…wondering if he had sexually assaulted this baby and what she must have gone through...how terrified she must have been...crying out for her mom and dad. Then my thoughts turned to her parents and how completely devastated they must be. I mean to have this beautiful, vibrant child one minute and then to have her brutally murdered the next? How does a parent live through something like that?
When I got to work and Angie walked by my office, I asked her if Julian knew Esme. She said they were not friends…because of the age difference…but he knew who she was; they were in some of the same music classes, etc. Then later that afternoon, Angie came back and sat down across my desk…with tears in her eyes. Angie has a friend who is a cop in the CPD, so I just looked at her and said, “He raped her, didn’t he? She nodded and then proceeded to tell me that he had tried to “burn” her body…in an effort to destroy DNA evidence.
As far as I’m concerned, there is no corner of hell hot enough for this monster. Way back in the day, I used to live next door to a guy who worked at the Southern Ohio Correctional Facility in Lucasville. Lucasville is where they maintain the “hardcore” prisoners…your murderers, rapists, death row inmates, etc. Mike was the prison librarian. I remember one time we were discussing the fate…oddly enough…of a man from Cincinnati who had murdered and sexually assaulted a two and half year old boy.
Mike told me the guy would most likely end up in Lucasville, and that, if he did, he probably wouldn’t last long because the inmates have a “code.” And, if there is one thing even the most grizzled felon cannot tolerate, it is a “baby raper.” Well, if that is still true, here’s hoping Mr. Kirkland’s sorry ass finds its way to Lucasville with all due speed.
I don’t know why this particular story touched me so, but it has haunted me all week. I keep thinking about Esme’s parents and how hollow, empty their lives must feel now…to have their “sparking” little girl snatched from them when she had her whole life ahead of her. I mean, I had a pretty crappy week myself, but nothing… absolutely nothing...compares to this.
