blunted on reality

seems that some things just don't change....

Apparently, some reporter in my hometown chose to capture readers' attention by specifically mentioning the high school of a recently arrested and alleged murderer.

First and foremost, it is a tremendously tragic and sad incident for a young mother and her children to lose their lives. It is a reprehensible act of cowardice on the part of whoever is at fault. It is troubling the face of a brother whom you once knew - however sparingly - and see that somewhere along the way, something may have gone terribly wrong. It sucks when shT hits closer to home than expected.

So while I cannot sympathize with the brother, I will say a pareyer for the families involved. But I will also join the rest of my Burke family in solidarity because the headline for the story was completely out-of-place, unnecessary, and tacky to say the least. nahmean?

the story may not show up at this link so I'll paste it as well.

Burke grad accused of killing family: Clayton Ellington charged with slaying twin sons and wife, who also grew up in Charleston

Saturday, May 20, 2006
BY NADINE PARKS
The Post and Courier

The mother of a man who grew up in Charleston and is now accused in the Wednesday bludgeoning death of his Lithonia, Ga., family says her son loved his wife and twin sons.

"My son is a good child, whatever happened," Barbara Kellman said Friday. "If he did it, he must have snapped, because God knows I have a good-hearted child."

Clayton Jerrod Ellington and Berna Judge were raised in Wagener Terrace and attended Burke High School, but Judge was two years ahead of her future husband in school, Kellman said. Ellington, a linebacker for the Burke football team, graduated in 1995, and later the couple started dating, she said.

Ellington continued his education at S.C. State University, and Judge moved to Lithonia for a job as a biologist in an environmental laboratory, Kellman said. She said the couple married about three years ago, and Ellington joined his wife in Georgia and started work as the manager of a Lithonia restaurant and grill.

They celebrated the second birthday of twin sons Cameron and Christian on April 10, Kellman said.

"They were beautiful little boys," she said. "They were identical, except Christian had a birthmark on the back of his head."

Just before midnight Wednesday, DeKalb County police found the toddlers dead in their beds and Berna Ellington, 31, dead, face down on the floor, according to a police report.

Clayton Ellington, 29, had called 911 at about 11:45 p.m. and said he had returned to the home to find the gruesome scene, said DeKalb County police spokesman Jason Gagnon.

However, Gagnon said information police learned when they questioned Ellington led to his arrest. Ellington is charged with three counts of murder and was held in a DeKalb County jail Friday after a judge denied him bail, a jail spokeswoman said.

Neighbors near the Ellingtons' suburban home said the family was quiet and that they never saw anything that gave them cause for alarm, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported Friday.

Kellman hopes people will reserve judgment until her son has his day in court.

"I'm so hurt to see my child's picture on the TV," Kellman said. "Every man is innocent until proven guilty. Only God knows what happened that night in their home."

Reach Nadine Parks at 745-5863 or nparks@postandcourier.com.

Media sensationalism has its time and place, but casting a shadow on a already tarnished Burke reputation ain't the way to roll, potna. Peep how the sentiment got so eloquently summed up in this one email I received today:

When I saw “Burke Grad Accused of Killing Family” in the Post and Courier on May 20, 2006… I was outraged!!! You tell me, what does the fact that he is a Burke grad do with the fact that he is accused of a horrific crime??????????? I am sick and tired of the media placing Burke High School in negative spotlight. They want the community to believe that Burke High breeds violent and aggressive individuals. This is not true. Burke has produced so many good things. Lots of Burke grads have stories of success. However, they seem to always be overshadowed by the negative ones. I’m sure that if one were to take a look … they’d find that our success outweigh our “failures”. The tragedy here is the triple homicide, NOT that he is a Burke grad! So please show your support by contacting Nadine Parks at the Post and Courier. She can be reached at (843) 745-5863 or nparks@postandcourier.com. Send to as many Burke Alumnae as possible. This is ridiculous. Thank you.

Maybe even some non-Burke heads will recognize this for what it is and lend a hand as well.