Posted on 11/05/2005 8:38:24 AM PST by twas
Over her casket, mourners will talk about how they all tried to help Dolores C. Carr.
They'll talk about how her son tried, how her councilman tried, how the cops tried. They'll talk about how they'd outfitted her home with deadbolts and an alarm system, how her property had been cleared of tall shrubs that might hide the wicked-minded.
Everybody tried so hard.
But in the end, Carr, 78, died in violence and terror in the middle of the night, and nobody was there to save her.
Police say she died early this week at the hands of a four-time felon who had broken into her home several times over the course of the summer. Early Friday morning, police arrested Donald Washington, 42, and charged him with second-degree murder.
"If he did it, I hope he burns in hell because that old lady never bothered anybody," said neighbor Kenethia Lewis.
The residents of Domedion Avenue said Carr was an easy target because she was unfortunate enough to grow old and live alone after her children moved away and her husband died.
Despite the harassment she endured late in her life, she refused to leave the Schiller Park home where she had built a cherished life with her husband and two children.
For more than 40 years, Carr was a neighborhood fixture. Both she and her husband, Louie, worked hard much of their lives, drawing paychecks and raising their two children. Carr would wave to the neighbors, work on her backyard vegetable garden and hand out home-grown tomatoes to those who lived nearby.
Even after her husband died in 1998, she still tended her vegetable garden until this past summer, when she got too sick to bother.
Many of the newer residents on the street barely recall Carr. She had a reputation for being quiet, reclusive and increasingly frail. By the time she died, the 5-foot-6-inch woman weighed a mere 90 pounds.
"She was a nice lady," said one young neighbor. "They'd throw parties (next door) and she'd never complain about their music or anything."
She even picked up the trash and broken glass left in her neighbor's front yard afterward, he said.
Those who have lived in the neighborhood longer said Carr had begun getting a lot of harassment from "young punks" in the area, and initially they all assumed these kids were responsible for the multiple break-ins at her house over the summer.
"They got no guts," said one neighbor of the kids on the street. "They pick on some frail, old woman. They would go in her back yard, knock on her window, rap on her door, pull out her plants."
Carr's problems got worse over the summer. Her home was repeatedly burglarized. Lovejoy Council Member Richard A. Fontana said at one point that Carr woke up to find a hammer-wielding robber trying to put a pillow over her face. Her television and snowblower were taken.
She appealed to Fontana and the police for help. The cops promised to keep an eye on her home, and Fontana's office worked to clear her house of tall trees and shrubs.
Her son, David, also routinely came by to check on her, take care of the lawn and bring her groceries. Family members were so concerned for her safety that they had a burglar alarm installed on the house.
None of that stopped the killer from breaking into the house through a rear window.
Police said they believe Carr was killed at about 1:30 a.m. Sunday morning. But Carr's son, David, recalled speaking with his mom on Monday night to remind her about an appointment she had scheduled later that week.
"Don't forget the doctor," he told her.
They never got the chance to speak again.
On Wednesday, David Carr found his mother tied up, beaten and strangled in her dining room. Her money, coin collection, watch and credit cards were missing.
The son looked ashen as he talked of how it's been since making the terrible discovery.
"Hard," he said.
Fontana posted a $1,000 reward for information leading to the arrest and conviction of Carr's killer. He said he believes the reward was a big reason why a neighbor stepped forward Thursday afternoon to assist the police. The tipster has made inquiries about the money, Fontana said.
Apparently, the suspect who's been arrested had been living next door, according to neighbors. Police said Donald Washington may have been alternating between his girlfriend's house on Domedion and a relative's house on St. Louis Avenue.
"Here's a four-time convicted felon," Police Commissioner Rocco J. Diina told reporters at a press conference Friday. "He shouldn't have been on the street."
Police officials outlined the series of events that led to Washington's arrest Thursday evening:
Late Thursday afternoon, a citizen approached Officer Robert Lee, who was at Carr's home. This neighborhood resident told the officer that Carr's I.D. and some of her valuables had been found in a neighborhood home. Police also learned Washington's name.
After the police issued a pickup order for Washington, another citizen called police on a cell phone to tell them he had spotted Washington at Genesee Street and Domedion.
Officers rushed there and stopped Washington on Humason Avenue, where he gave them a fake name. Asked to produce identification, he said he had to go home to get it. Then he ran into Schiller Park and dove into the pond.
After the police fished him out, Washington confessed to the crime, officials said.
Washington has been charged with second-degree murder and four burglary counts in connection with the summer break-ins at Carr's house and garage.
"What really failed here was the neighbors allowing and harboring a known criminal," Fontana said. "That was the true failure in this situation."
He's looking to get the tenants of that property evicted.
Washington's arrest may bring some measure of comfort to those who remember Dolores Carr.
When Washington was arrested, Fontana said, many people were waiting. Fontana was out on the street with Carr's children, David, 51, and Cindy, 47, of Nevada. The cops were there as well. They succeeded in catching a suspect; but no one had been able to save Carr.
Diina vowed to review the events surrounding the killing and the fact that apparently police didn't find anything amiss after checking the house when the burglar alarm went off. He also said how he wants this case to be resolved. "We hope to convict him and put him behind bars forever," the commissioner said.
A prayer vigil will be held in front of Carr's house at 6 p.m. today.
News staff reporter Maki Becker contributed to this story.
e-mail: stan@buffnews.com
That poor woman! Prayers for her family and all her loved her.
There used to be a bumper-sticker that said, "Soft Judges Make Hardened Criminals". Those words were true then and they are still true today.
Yeah, probably so. Personally, I think it should have been first degree murder with special circumstances.
I suspect your post will not last long.
Incidents like this make me think that lynching of coldblooded murderers was not such a bad idea back in the days of the old Wild West.
First degree murder charges requires proving prior intent. 2nd should be enough to keep this guy locked to his grave time.
In Texas or Georgia,maybe....but in New York?
In Texas, this scum would have a date with the needle and we wouldn't have to house, feed, and hire appeal lawyers for this worthless POS. But this being Texas, I'd hope the old lady would have had a .44 with her at all times, a great equalizer for the frail and elderly.
"What really failed here was the neighbors allowing and harboring a known criminal," Fontana said. "That was the true failure in this situation."
Hip hop culture? Bet he wears his underwear out.
What really failed here was allowing a three time loser live to become a fourth, then fifth time loser.
Darn shame she did not have a gun. A nice double barrel shot gun would work well as you only have to point and click twice.
You got my vote hoss.
Yes, and not only will none of them be punished, but they'll be promoted and eventually retire young with a big fat taxpayer-looted pension so they can park their skiboat on the front lawn and brag about a "career in public service".
The bastards.
Hank, on one level I heartily agree with you. I will also say that it is very distressing to law enforcement to facilitate putting these felons behind bars only to observe the criminal justice system place them back on the street.
They played a clip of O'Reilly talking to a former State Bar Chair from Ma. O'Reilly was livid that a man known to have molested five boys, was going to get 11 years total. O'Reilly said the judge was to blame. The former state bar chairman stated that the judge acted within her mandate.
We've got a serious problem when a person can molest five children and only get 2.2 years for each offense.
I have to agree with O'Reilly on this one. This is unacceptable!
I think it's an excellent idea. These days it's usually suicide by bedsheet in a jail cell. Criminals have more rights than we do : (
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