Ray Lewis’s ties to Atlanta murders now a footnote, but one victim’s family struggles to cope

The Washington Post ^ | Fri January 25, 2013 | Kent Babb

[MinorityRepublican]

Akron, Ohio — She disappears into a back room to find her hat and gloves. Nearly 13 years have passed since someone killed Priscilla Lollar’s oldest child, and in that time, she says, she has never visited his grave.

She has thought about what that moment would be like, and deep down she knows it is something she needs to do. But she’s afraid that pain would soon follow, and so instead, Priscilla has chosen for years to feel nothing.

Early on Jan. 31, 2000, Richard Lollar and a childhood friend, Jacinth Baker, were stabbed to death in Atlanta. This much is fact. What’s unknown is who killed them, although the Lollar family still believes Baltimore Ravens linebacker Ray Lewis, who’s expected to end his Hall of Fame career at the Super Bowl on Feb. 3, was involved.

Lewis will be celebrated at this year’s game for a remarkable 17-year career that has made him one of pro football’s most recognizable stars. Almost a footnote now is that knife attack 13 years ago, when a 24-year-old Lewis was among those attending that year’s Super Bowl festivities in Atlanta. He was a rising star, his fourth NFL season recently completed, when his path crossed with Lollar, 24, and Baker, 21, at a nightclub in the hours after the St. Louis Rams won the Vince Lombardi Trophy.

[varmintman]

The Washington Post sucks, I stopped patronizing them in the late 1990s.

[NotSoFreeStater]

Maybe Lewis will wear the white suit at media day on Tuesday.

[MadMax, the Grinning Reaper]

I have a page of football cards for players who went to jail. I remember Rae Carruthers. Lewis cards are next to his, just in case.

Oh, Michael Vick is in there somewhere.

Too many players lately to keep up with. Running out of card-holder pages.

That is the real shame of some sports.