I remember when Lisa Steinberg was killed. One look at her precious face in the photograph and I was heartbroken. In November 1987 I was a freshman in college, and upon reading of her death in People magazine, I tore out the photograph of her and put it on my dorm room wall. To remember her, to grieve for her. Believe it or not, I still have that photo – in a box somewhere, neatly packed away in order to preserve her memory.
And today her killer goes free. I don’t know how I feel about that. Sure, he served time in prison, but it was such a needless death (aren’t they all?), the result of a man bullying a child, taking advantage of his size and killing a little girl who can’t fight back. Part of me wishes he’d continue the punishment – continue living in a cell, faced with the continuous reminder that he killed a child he was supposed to love and take care of. Instead, he gets to leave and begin work at a cable tv station – as though nothing happened.