The quintuple homicide in Ingleside this March was shocking. In his May 2012 Neighborhood Narrative column, Alexander Mullaney discusses what to do when a family is taken away.
By ALEXANDER MULLANEY
EDITOR AND PUBLISHER
As we stood on Ocean Avenue behind the yellow caution tape cordoning off Howth Street, a Lick-Wilmerding High School student told me, “I’ll never be able to look at this street the same way again.” A family of five was found slain in their home that morning. The LWHS student said he went to the school-wide assembly to talk about the murders that occurred across the street from campus and that he lived around the corner. His remark, undoubtedly about the shocking nature of the crime, pointed to the psychological trauma of it all—this would linger and perhaps scar.
Ingleside lost a family on March 23. Hua Shun Lei, 65, and his wife, Wan Yi Wu, 62, as well as their children, Ying Xue Lei, 37, her brother, Vincent Lei, 32, and Chia Huei Chu, 30, Vincent Lei’s girlfriend, were brutally killed. Two days later, a family friend named Binh Thai Luc, 35, was detained and later charged.
This violence didn’t occur near this student’s home but near all of our homes. With that in mind, it is critical to understand that now is not the time to ask “Why?” but precisely the time to ask “What can I do?”
As justice takes its course, an integral part of the healing process, we cannot simply wait for the verdict to be determined. We must, as a neighborhood, address this wound and prevent any scarring. We must not delay when so abruptly and acutely hurt.
But how and when does healing begin? When the media crews leave and the yellow caution tape is pulled down? When the last of the memorial flowers have disintegrated and been dispersed by the wind? Grieving, as complicated as it can be and likely is in this case, must start off right to end up right. The best way to cope is to come together, work together and be together. There is much to be done.
Peace doesn’t happen involuntarily. It is made. We must make our peace. We must let our response to the slaying on Howth Street serve as a guide for what to do whenever calamity or tragedy strike.
On June 16, the neighborhood non-profit Geneva Car Barn and Powerhouse along with Friends of the Urban Forest, Urban Farmer Store, District 11 Council, Excelsior Action Group and the OMI-Neighbors in Action will host a morning tree planting ceremony for the slain family at the Phelan-Ocean Garden. To donate or get involved, e-mail genevacarbarn@gmail.com.
E-mail Alexander Mullaney: publisher@inglesidelight.com.
What about the murder that happened a week after that on Howth three blocks south of Geneva? Or the other murder that happened at that very same intersection on June 27th? That makes ***7 murders*** within the span of about 3 months. That ridiculous and unacceptable!
The fact that Taraval PD is the station that services this community is profoundly misdirected in it’s planning. We have Balboa Park station less than a mile away, yet can we go to them for help? No. Can we expect them out on the streets patrolling their backyard? Nope. When I call the cops because of some bullshit that’s happening outside, it takes a good half hour or more for the police to show up. That’s just not right.
Since this last killing on the 27th, I’ve seen a total of 6 squad cars in the area, and I am CONSTANTLY looking out of my window, day and night. There needs to be a SERIOUS reapportionment of police officers to the Ingleside area, and a reassignment of this district to the Balboa Park station. This is not a neighborhood that should be living in fear of walking down the street, yet in speaking with my neighbors, it has become one. For all the hoopla that I see about revitalizing the area, especially with a new Whole Foods coming in, there sure hasn’t been shit done to protect the welfare of the residents here from the animals that are outside.