Thursday, March 15, 2018

A memorial for Elizabeth Lee on Cooper Square



During yesterday's #NationalSchoolWalkout, students from Grace Church School also left a memorial with a bed of roses on Cooper Square where longtime staff member Elizabeth Lee was shot and killed as she arrived for work this past Nov. 2 ...



Police have said that she was allegedly gunned down by Vincent Verdi, a onetime boyfriend.

According to the Daily News, Verdi spent four months stalking and harassing Lee. Police had arrested him previously for stalking, per the News. She had an order of protection barring him from contacting her, which was in place the morning he shot her.

Verdi, who survived a self-inflicted gunshot to the head, made his first appearance in Manhattan Supreme Court on Feb. 22.

The DA's office charged him with murder, weapons possession, aggravated criminal contempt and stalking.

Per the Daily News:

Verdi’s lawyer Robert Soloway declined to comment on the charges but said his client feels for Lee-Herman’s family.

“My client has great regret over the family’s loss — more than he’s able to express,” Soloway said.

Last November, school administrators established a trust to help provide for the education and other critical needs, such as medical coverage, of Lee's two children, Sasha and Hunter. Between GoFundMe and physical donations, $169,000 was raised for the family. The funds were turned over to the Elizabeth Lee Family Trust.

1 comment:

Giovanni said...

Again, my condolences go to all of Elizabeth Lee’s family and friends. This was a shocking crime and yet it is all too common. The level of depravity to which human behavior sinks seems to have no limit.

The alleged killer can't even express remorse himself over the death of his girlfriend, and lets his lawyer do the talking. Hell used to have a special place for people who commit such crimes, but it’s so full now there’s nowhere to put all of the lost souls.

In the wake of the school shooting epidemic and student demonstrations we shouldn't forget the domestic violence epidemic which predominantly affects women, especially when it comes to guns Everytown has some revealing and scary research on how vast the problem is: On average, every month, 50 women are shot to death by their partners, and almost 1 million women have been shot or shot at by their partners.

The presence of a gun in a domestic violence situation makes it five times more likely that a woman will be killed.

Women in the U.S. are 16 times more likely to be killed with a gun than women in other high-income countries, making this country the most dangerous in the developed world when it comes to gun violence against women.

Every year American women suffer from 5.3 million incidents of intimate partner violence.

In an average month, 50 American women are shot to death by intimate partners, and many more are injured.

Nearly 1 million women alive today have been shot, or shot at, by an intimate partner.

Abusers use guns to threaten and control their victims, even if they never pull the trigger.

About 4.5 million American women alive today have been threatened with a gun by an intimate partner.

When will it end?