Sudden Death: Hit & Run, Hit & Run, Hit

It started when a minivan struck a man crossing the street. The motorist sped away. Moments later, a second vehicle ran over the man, who was sprawled in the middle of the street. That driver, too, sped away without stopping, police said.

At that point, several pedestrians who witnessed the incidents raced into the street to help the pedestrian and block other cars from running him over. As one of these Good Samaritans stepped into the street, she was hit by a third car.

Unlike the first two drivers, this one immediately stopped and got out of his car to help the injured woman. But police said the crowd turned on the driver, beating him up. Read the rest from the L. A. Times here. ( “Hawthorne police untangling grim hit-and-run” 1/22/11)

Comments (8)

  1. Reply

    You know, I’ve been wondering.

    How come you didn’t present this example of a “sudden death” under this heading?

    [Link removed]

    Evangelical mother suffocates her son, thinking he’s possessed. It’s a sudden death. Nobody could have seen it coming, right? (Well, Ok, maybe there were signs… you know, the intense interest in religion, the unquestioning belief in unreasonable things…)

    Why didn’t this one make the cut?

    • Reply

      I don’t usually post murders or deaths with children.

      As far as the mother being “evangelical,” you’ll know them by their fruit.

      In other words, if someone says it’s an apple tree but it bears cherries, guess what?

  2. Nohm

    Reply

    Steve, it’s all a matter of your perspective. To you, you see cherries. To us, we see apples.

  3. Reply

    “I don’t usually post murders or deaths with children.”

    Well, I still think it’s a distasteful habit on your part, but at least you’ve got standards…. I think that makes it a little better…

    ‘As far as the mother being “evangelical,” ‘

    Well, we know she was no true Scotsman, Steve – Latisha Lawson was an unwed mother in Indiana. But she is described in every account as “deeply religious,” and she believed her son was possessed by demons.

    Doesn’t it seem like there’s sometimes a thin line between religion and madness? Where exactly should that line be drawn? Do we just let it go on until somebody dies?

    Do you see the (inverse) parallels between this and your “Drowning Woman” metaphor? Where exactly is the line between evangelism and insanity? When do we step in and stop you, for your own good and the good of those around you?

    • Reply

      I think the line can safely be drawn to determine when a person is sane is when that person realizes that they have sinned before a Holy God, comes to their senses and repents and trusts in Jesus.

      As for Nohm’s comment about it being a matter of perspective… Sorry, a Christian is as a Christian does.

  4. vintango2k

    Reply

    How do we know she wasn’t casting out demons? I mean Jesus said that his followers would have the ability to do this in Mark. She could have easily been following the Bible in this practice. Or she could be nuts. Since we can’t scientifically test for the presence of demons it makes it a little hard to tell the difference. If she believed the child was possessed by demons or was a witch of some sort then suffer them not. I mean despite the murder of her child, she’s still heaven bound right? Either she’s deeply religious and trusts in Jesus as her savior and her sins will be forgiven, or she’s out of her mind, not culpable for her actions and will get into heaven because she’s mentally infirm… unless you believe that the mentally retarded go to hell?

  5. Reply

    How could she have been casting out demons? There weren’t any pigs in her neighborhood, were there?

    “I think the line can safely be drawn to determine when a person is sane is when that person realizes that they have sinned before a Holy God, comes to their senses and repents and trusts in Jesus.”

    Really? So all atheists, agnostics, Jews, Muslims, Hindu’s and Buddhists are insane in your eyes? That actually says more about you than about anyone else, Steve.

    Further, you magically know that she didn’t repent and trust in Jesus? Hey, she thought she was casting out a demon – as far as she’s concerned, Jesus is on her side in all this.

    And don’t go back to that weak “well, she didn’t REALLY repent” argument. You don’t get to make value judgements about other people’s faith based solely on the fact that you disagree with them. By your own admission, that doesn’t matter in God’s eyes – it’s Faith that matters, right?

    Well, Latisha had bucketloads of faith. Where does that put her? By your logic, she’ll be in heaven. Possibly in the seat next to Dahmer.

    Heaven’s getting awfully crowded with people I wouldn’t want to share a cab with, Steve.

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