Category: Rants a.k.a. Commentary || By

I've tried a couple of times to write something about the slaying of Kia Johnson, and I just don't have the words.

In case you're out of town or don't follow the news, Johnson is the 18-year-old city resident who was murdered, apparently by someone who wanted to take the unborn baby from her uterus.

The baby survived; Johnson's remains were found on the floor of a Wilkinsburg apartment rented by the main suspect in her killing, Andrea Curry-Demus.

Her body was badly decomposed, and the medical examiner's office says they may not be able to determine an exact cause of death because of that.

Johnson's corpse was discovered after reporters covering the arrest of Curry-Demus visited the apartment, noticed the smell, and called the cops.

No, the neighbors didn't report it. Surely they heard Kia Johnson crying out in agony; if not, they had to have to realized from the odor that something was terribly wrong.

But they let her body lie there, face down, on the floor, rotting.

That's depraved enough --- and we haven't even gotten to the case that police are building against Curry-Demus, who's been charged with homicide and kidnapping in connection with Johnson's murder.

County police allege that Curry-Demus met Johnson, found out she was pregnant, lured her to her apartment, and cut the baby from her womb. Whether Johnson was dead before the child was removed is a thought too horrible to contemplate.

Curry-Demus' public defender calls it "a sad state of affairs." I realize he's her attorney, but that doesn't begin to describe this case.

Another attorney, who defended Curry-Demus 18 years ago when she stole another infant, told reporters that she wasn't in her right mind at the time.

Should I laugh or cry? No, she's clearly not in her right mind, and yet if Curry-Demus' lawyers are going to try for an insanity defense, they've got a "catch-22" situation --- you would clearly have to be crazy to do what she's accused of doing, but it was done with such cold-blooded ruthlessness that it's hard to argue that she's insane. If she did it, she seemed to be in control of herself at all times.

Personally, I'm not a big advocate for the death penalty --- I don't think it has any deterrent factor, and I think too many innocent people have been found recently on death row --- but if any case cried out for the suspect to be put to death, this one qualifies.

As for what the case says about modern society, well, society has always had depraved people, back to the day when Cain slew Abel.

The only consolation is that Kia Johnson is hopefully in a place without cruel, indifferent, horrible monsters, like the one who treated her with such brutality and disrespect.

And my fervent prayer for the child she never got to see is that he'll get a good upbringing from her family or from foster parents who love him.

They say that living well is the best revenge. I hope that Kia Johnson's little boy lives very well, and I hope her killer spends a long time in a very dark, cold place.

. . .

Memorial contributions for Kia Johnson should be sent to PNC Bank, 560 Lysle Blvd., McKeesport 15132.