TX - David Stevens, 53, killed in random machete attack, Dallas, 12 Oct 2015

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Would it be possible to put the victims names in the thread title instead of the killers? :please:

Maybe David Stevens killed at random in machete attack

Or something similar?
 
This despicable perp slaughtered TWO innocents; imo.
Not even going to comment on that 'news' article from Dallas Morning News. :banghead: :mad:

May both Patti and Dave rest gently -- I believe they are reunited , beyond this worlds' cares and hurts.
 
The opinion piece generated HUNDREDS of outraged comments. The author was belligerent in her defense of her piece, basically saying that anyone who took issue with it just "didn't get it," or didn't actually read it.

She is a real piece of work. Her editorial was despicable, imo.
 
I have not read all of the comments to the opinion piece Ms. Grigsby wrote, but based on the most recent I saw, and the reaction here, I would guess there are very few who did not take issue. I myself believe she is writing from a very personal perspective of being very close to someone who also committed suicide. She has much anger, which is certainly one of the stages of grief, and it appears she is grieving a great loss. She seems to be projecting that anger on someone who was tragically thrust into the public eye, and who then chose an equally tragic response to her horrific circumstances. I pray ALL people who walk the precarious path of grieving a difficult loss are able to reach out and find the emotional support that is critical to surviving it. There is so much pain in everyone's life. If each one (of us) helped one, it would be a beautiful way to channel the anger that is gripping us in this terrible story.
 
I may be one of the few who does not find Sharon Grigsby's opinion piece odious and despicable. I agree with her, and even found myself ripped to shreds in living color on WS, my post deleted for saying the exact same thing a while back. Sharon says:

"If you have considered suicide, you know what I’m talking about."
Click to expand...
http://dallasmorningviewsblog.dalla...kable-but-her-suicide-was-still-selfish.html/

I spent over thirty years contemplating suicide, considering it my way out when MY pain got too bad. Never ONCE did I consider the pain I might be inflicting on others. Selfish? YES.

I've read/heard that suicide runs in families. I've seen it happen myself. Once someone kills themselves, it gives an okay of sorts, sets a precedent for others to do it. I've seen more than one case of this. Selfish? YES. In a way you are giving a green light for others to follow. Read about multiple teen suicides and see what I mean.

Now, on the other hand, the perp who "randomly" (don't you just love how that word popped right up?) murdered Mr. Stevens, he needs to be put away forever, and our mental health system needs to be revamped/rebuilt. There are so many out there in need, and not a lot of safety nets, for the victims as well as the mentally ill

My opinion and I stand by it.
 
People who call the actions of Patti Stevens "selfish" are applying logic of a healthy mind on someone whose mind is not healthy and lacks the capacity to apply that kind of logic. Someone in such depths of despair is not in their right mind, and finger wagging them and telling them to think of other peoples' pain rather than their own is not likely to make them become suddenly mentally/emotionally healthy.

It was a public dogpile and she had no business spitting on the dead body of this tragic figure. Several of Dave's and Patti's relatives responded that her editorial did nothing but heap additional pain on their already devastated family. Calling Patti "selfish" will have no beneficial effect on any other suicidal person because shaming them is neither appropriate nor shown to be an effective negotiating technique.
 
Here is an excerpt of a comment posted to this article by a poster named Jessica Carr, which espouses a point of view that I've noted is often advanced by mental health and crisis intervention experts:

You link multiple resources for at the end of your article, but you couldn’t even bother to complete a bit of research before blasting your harmful, and ignorant (and inaccurate) opinion. I also work for the mental health community, and for almost a decade now have worked in crisis. There is not a day that goes by that I don’t speak with a person that is struggling with suicidal thoughts. If you didn’t know, suicide is well researched, they even write books about it! Isn’t that exciting? I am sorry if I sound condescending, but that seems to be the language you speak. If you’re actually interested in learning about it, allow me to help you find accurate information, simply google: Thomas Joiner, The American Association of Suicidology (I mean, wow, a national association dedicated to the research of suicide… imagine that!), or any of the linked organizations at the bottom of your article. (After you google them, use them as something other than page filler for your ignorant opinion blog).

Suicide is not selfish, and it’s about time we started talking about what suicide actually is. Here are some of those fancy facts and statistics that you seem to have completely ignored: http://www.suicidology.org/resources/facts-statistics. Suicide is a lethal symptom of depression. It comes from feelings of helplessness, hopelessness, worthlessness, guilt, and shame. Almost every person I have spoken with has expressed “perceived burden” or a belief that their loved ones would be better off without them. That is not selfishness. There are exceptions to this rule found in people with cluster b personality disorders, sociopathy, orpsychopathy (those that lack the ability to feel empathy and shame) and actually have much lower rates of completed or attempted suicide.
Click to expand...

Those verbalizing the "perceived burden" truly believe their passing will ultimately relieve their loved ones of a huge burden. Though probably misguided, it is not in the least "selfish."
 
nrdsb4 said:
Here is an excerpt of a comment posted to this article by a poster named Jessica Carr, which espouses a point of view that I've noted is often advanced by mental health and crisis intervention experts:



Those verbalizing the "perceived burden" truly believe their passing will ultimately relieve their loved ones of a huge burden. Though probably misguided, it is not in the least "selfish."
Click to expand...

"They would be better off without me" is not selfish, you're right.

Expecting someone to suffer and live with unbearable pain is what's selfish. If you didn't help the person you have no business inserting yourself into her story and calling her actions selfish.

JMO.
 
Psychologist Thomas Joiner is considered an expert on suicide. He also experienced it personally after his father committed suicide. In this interview, he addresses the "selfish act" myth with interviewer Neal Conan.

CONAN: And here's a question that I think is, I think we'll be getting a lot like this from our audience, this an email from Will(ph) in Ann Arbor. My mother took her own life when I was 13 years old. I came home from school and found her locked up in the garage with the car engine running. I tried to revive her but couldn't.

I didn't know what to think at the time. Now, 45 years later, I think suicide is the most selfish act one can commit.

Prof. JOINER: It certainly seems selfish from the outside. I understand the sentiment. But the trouble is, in trying to reason about the suicidal mind from a non-suicidal place - that's basically where most of these myths come from.

What the suicidal person is thinking at the time is actually quite different from selfishness. Their idea is along the lines of, my death will be worth more than my life to others.

Now, if you ponder that sentiment, that's not selfish at all. In fact, if anything it's the opposite. It's very selfless. Now, let me make a key point about that idea that's in the mind of suicidal people. That idea is mistaken, but the tragedy, one of hundreds of many tragedies about this event - or this phenomenon, rather - is that the suicidal person doesn't know it's mistaken. They think the idea is true, and it spurs their fatal behavior.
Click to expand...

http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126365907

BBM;

It all seems so clear when your mind is healthy. But experience a horrific personal loss, combine that with less than optimal personal support (no children to "live for" for example), lack of sleep, probable poor nutrition, and any number of other factors, and the chemistry of the brain becomes MESSED up. Calling a person in this kind of mental/emotional/physical distress "selfish" is imo like calling an undiagnosed or improperly treated type 1 diabetic "selfish" for going into a coma.
 
nrdsb4 said:
Psychologist Thomas Joiner is considered an expert on suicide. He also experienced it personally after his father committed suicide. In this interview, he addresses the "selfish act" myth with interviewer Neal Conan.



http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=126365907

BBM;

It all seems so clear when your mind is healthy. But experience a horrific personal loss, combine that with less than optimal personal support (no children to "live for" for example), lack of sleep, probable poor nutrition, and any number of other factors, and the chemistry of the brain becomes MESSED up. Calling a person in this kind of mental/emotional/physical distress "selfish" is imo like calling an undiagnosed or improperly treated type 1 diabetic "selfish" for going into a coma.
Click to expand...

This is perfect. Thank you.
 
CocoChanel said:
I have not read all of the comments to the opinion piece Ms. Grigsby wrote, but based on the most recent I saw, and the reaction here, I would guess there are very few who did not take issue. I myself believe she is writing from a very personal perspective of being very close to someone who also committed suicide. She has much anger, which is certainly one of the stages of grief, and it appears she is grieving a great loss. She seems to be projecting that anger on someone who was tragically thrust into the public eye, and who then chose an equally tragic response to her horrific circumstances. I pray ALL people who walk the precarious path of grieving a difficult loss are able to reach out and find the emotional support that is critical to surviving it. There is so much pain in everyone's life. If each one (of us) helped one, it would be a beautiful way to channel the anger that is gripping us in this terrible story.
Click to expand...

BBM

Good post.

I have a dear friend who just found out yesterday that the cancer treatment a beloved child has been undergoing has reached the point of futility. She has been told that no further treatment will be pursued. This child is the love of her life (any loving parent can understand that sentiment). I and her other friends are going to have to commit to supporting her not only during the immediate aftermath of her personal tragedy, but well into the future. It's easy to think "well, so and so are closer friends, I'm sure they are looking after her and I don't want to intrude." But if enough friends are doing that, then the reality is that there is not nearly the degree of support given to that person that you might imagine.

I will keep your words in mind. Thx.
 
November 16:

Suspect in White Rock Trail murder appears in court

There's no question that former Texas A&M football star and Skyline High School standout Thomas Johnson murdered jogger Dave Stevens last month with a machete.

The question is: Was he in his right mind when he did it?
...
The former college wide receiver walked in to court Monday with his hands shackled. He sat quietly as his defense attorneys questioned the detective about Johnson's mental state during an examining trial.
...
Homicide Det. Esteban Montenegro, the only witness to the take the stand, testified Monday he interviewed four witnesses and that none of them gave any indication that Johnson was acting irrationally.
...
Thomas Johnson was diagnosed with schizophrenia last year, but refused to take the medications. His father says he repeatedly tried to get through to his son, even once showing up at the home of his son's mother with a case worker and police in an effort to try to get him help.
...
Robert Johnson says he doesn't think his son fully comprehends the horrific act he's accused of doing.
Click to expand...

Video and more at link.
 
bluesneakers said:
"They would be better off without me" is not selfish, you're right.

Expecting someone to suffer and live with unbearable pain is what's selfish. If you didn't help the person you have no business inserting yourself into her story and calling her actions selfish.

JMO.
Click to expand...

Well said.
 
Police chased him from his 9- or 10-year-old cousin’s house last August. Johnson believed the boy was a messenger from God.

He babbled often about Bible characters and came to believe in a talking teddy bear.

At some point in the last year, a relative had Johnson diagnosed with schizophrenia. His friends heard talk of a treatment program in Lancaster, though it’s unclear if he ever went.

Johnson showed up at his father’s apartment in Hurst the week before last. He often watched football on his dad’s couch but, that day, paced the parking lot, spooking Robert Johnson’s neighbors.

After arguing with his father outside the apartment, Johnson began walking back toward Dallas, 30 miles away.

“If I could’ve just kept him here, maybe it would have made a difference,” Robert Johnson said, rubbing tears from his face. “I feel like it would have. I wish I just could have.”
Click to expand...

http://www.dallasnews.com/news/crim...-ams-rising-star-spiraled-through-madness.ece
 
The witness said he knew immediately the guy was a danger and, though he didn't see a machete, said the man had a "crazed" look in his eyes.
"The best way to describe it is his brain was clearly in another atmosphere. I knew this guy was trouble, a scary stare," the witness said...
He added that from where he first saw the man and called 911 to where the murder happened was almost a full mile and he doesn't know why police were unable to check out the situation in those 20 minutes.
Click to expand...

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Pa...ark-Before-Murder-Calls-Police-332468232.html
 
2012 news story:

According to a Dallas police report, Johnson went to a friend's house on Forney Drive and tried to leave as police officers arrived.
Dallas police blacked-out portions of the report, but the document shows that Johnson was talking about his religious beliefs. Officers transported Johnson from the house, and there is an arrest number on the report.
Dallas police can make an arrest if they feel someone is a danger to himself or others.
Click to expand...

http://www.nbcdfw.com/news/local/Te...th-Dallas-Ties-Found-179405521-179457051.html
 
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