As someone who believes in standing up for the underdog and helping those who need help, it's particularly upsetting to hear about this brutal toddler death after an adult in the home did the right thing. While police won't identify the Good Samaritan, who broke up an assault by a man on a woman -- allowing the woman to escape from the attacker -- they do say his house became the target after he helped his neighbor. His house that is filled with family members and lots of children.
Showing no good deed goes unpunished, the man who was stopped from attacking the woman came back an hour later and fired on the home. His gunshots killed a 3-year-old little girl named Nylah and injured a pregnant woman and another toddler. How horrible is it that if this man had just let that woman continue to be violated, his family members would still be alive? How could he have known that setting a good example for his family would end so tragically?
While luckily my story did not have a similar ending, I was also in a situation where I felt I needed to step forward, but with my daughter in tow. As I strolled my toddler girl down the sidewalk, I witnessed a man screaming at a 2-year-old little girl, and eventually grabbing her toy stroller and flinging it across the street as he berated this crying toddler. I was angry enough to call him names, and he turned on me. Even as I was reminding him that she was just a little girl and that he, in fact, was an asshole, I realized I had just put myself and my toddler in danger as well. He was incredibly angry, and he yelled back at me to mind my own business and to get away from him, pronto. I did, but felt like I should have done more.
Being in a situation where you can protect someone else from harm is not something to walk away from, usually. But when you have children to protect, maybe you should. Violent and crazy people don't really care about your child, as shown in this tragic story. It would have been better, for little Nylah, if this man had plugged his ears and ignored what was going on in the neighborhood.
It's not a good choice. And not a good message to your kids if you see someone being abused and you turn the other way. I can't help think but if he'd called the police, and the attacker knew he did it, the same thing would have happened. A psycho is a psycho, no matter what.
Clearly, I don't know what you should do in this situation. I know I was lucky I was just yelled at by an abusive man, and my daughter escaped unscathed. This family in California was not so lucky.
What would you do in this situation?
Image via thisisrod/Flickr
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Comments 131
Ummm, yeah... good guy did NOT cause the death.... BAD GUY did!!! Let's put the blame where it should be!
So, April in her article said when she confronted a man who was throwing a fit with his little girl and he berated April, she turned away to protect her child. April, did you call 911? Or did you just walk away? I remember one time while I was at Walmart this child of about 8 or so was with his Mom. They were in the middle of an the aisle of Hair Dye. THe little boy heard other children laughing so he went to the end of the aisle to see the other children and his Mom went totally ballistic on her child. She grabbed his ear hard and she had him on his tip toes and had him walking around like that. His ear was burning red and I immediately told her to STOP doing that to her child. Of course in her redneck tone told me it was not my bessuineess. I said it will be when I call the police. She ran out of the store. I tried to follow her out to get the car tag but I was talking on the phone to the police and she got away. Now I wish I would have just followed her out to her car and got her tag number but I just wanted her to stop hurting her child. I wonder how he gets treated at home if she did that to her child in a store. Very sad.
I saw another situation at Walgreen's. A little tiny girl was crying so the Mom took her out to the car, I was going to my car as well. She was wailing on the little girl. The tiny girl probably didn't weigh 35 pounds. I called 911 and followed that lady to her house and gave the information to the police. I have worked with abused and neglected children in a shelter, and I will be Dmed if I just turn my head to abuse of a child.</p>
By the way, I do not appreciate the title of this story. It is shameful to the guy who defended the abused woman. It was the guy with the gun who killed the child. Change the title and do the right thing.
As we ask our children to stand up to bullying in schools, a story like this comes around and causes me to think a little bit more about that recommendation. It's all about how we talk to another person. Calling him and a**hole probably didn't help matters. Not that it justifies his action but there are ways to diffuse situations like this and receiving proper training might be a good idea ..or call the cops cuz they already have the training... As far as kids in school, they too should be trained before being asked to confront a bully.
I think the headline for this story is horrible. The man who helped the lady did not cause the death or shooting in any way. He tried to help a fellow human being, with disastrous results. He had no way of knowing the outcome. With attitudes like the authors, its no wonder people don't want to get involved and help others much anymore. He probably feels responsible enough without public stories saying it. The man who pulled the trigger is the only person guilty of any wrong doing.
Always call the cops!
I would try to help or would call the police. I would try not to put my kids in danger though