When a national story erupts in your back yard
It is an old habit. And like most, it is very tough to kick.
It is the residue of decades toiling in newsrooms where gallows humor is a way of life, where every big story is examined for any possible links to Delaware County.
It’s as much a defense mechanism as anything else. To some outsiders it is merely another sign that we have no heart. To those who deal with these incredibly sad stories every day, it is a way to hide the heartbreak.
So I can freely admit that one of the first things that went through my mind when I heard of the horrific road-rage killing in Chester County a few weeks back was this, which I immediately muttered in the newsroom: What do you think the chances are that this guy was from Delco? It didn’t take long to find out. Bianca Roberson, a recent graduate of Rustin High School in West Chester who was about to set out on her college career at Jacksonville University in Florida, was shot death on Route 100 in West Goshen. Police say it was part of a roadrage incident involving another driver in a red pickup truck. The two apparently had been jockeying for position at a spot where the highway narrows from two lanes down to one.
Suddenly the eyes of the nation were riveted on our backyard. I think it’s fair to say many of them had the same question I kept asking myself again and again. We’re now capable of pulling out a gun and shooting someone because of a traffic dispute?
Some days, especially in this job, you just have to shake your head.
A nationwide manhunt quickly went out for the red pickup truck. Eventually, surveillance images were distributed. Then came the update that voice in my head kept whispering in my ear. A new surveillance picture had captured the red pickup, which had fled the scene along the shoulder of the road on Route 100, jumped on Route 202, got off on Paoli Pike … and of course was last seen headed south on Route 352 into Delaware County.
That hole in my stomach that I lug around with me exploded. A national story that was taking place next door suddenly was turning into a Delaware County story.
Early Sunday morning we learned the pickup truck belonged to a 28-year-old Trainer man. A couple hours after that, the Chester County District Attorney and West Goshen police were announcing the arrest of David Desper.
Trying to make sense of this incident is going to take a lot longer.
One of the things we routinely do in following stories like this is to find out what we can about the people charged in these crimes.
That’s the reason we tried to find out information about Desper.
That and the answer to which there really is no good answer. Why? That one simple question is the one that has been swirling around in my head since I first heard of the horrific tragedy that snuffed out the life of a young woman from Chester County in a road-rage incident.
What could possibly make someone do something so abhorrent, so senseless, as to pull out a gun and shoot another driver?
We still don’t know. A preliminary hearing for the man charged in this brutal killing was continued last week.
In the meantime, the friends and family of Bianca Roberson continue to mourn the senseless loss of a promising young life.
Police believe Roberson and Desper were involved in what they described as a “cat and mouse” game as they jockeyed for position as the road narrows from two lanes to one.
Then the unthinkable happened. Police say Desper pulled out a gun and shot Bianca in the head, killing her instantly.
The story not only captured national attention, it also became a much more intense story for us here at the Daily Times when we learned the man charged in her shooting death was from Delaware County.
Desper faces charges of firstand third-degree murder.
We didn’t learn much. Not many people were talking about him.
We did not do this in an attempt to paint him in any kind of less harsh light. What he is charged with doing is abhorrent.
We ran a photo of him from his high school yearbook that also offended some readers. That also is something we often do as we dig into the background of people charged with serious crimes.
We are not looking for – or offering – any excuse for what he is charged with doing. We don’t want to see him acquitted – as some have charged.
We want only justice for Bianca Roberson, and an explanation as to how a person could possibly be capable of doing something so heinous.
Actually, I would like Bianca Roberson.
She reminded me not only that life is precious, and that it can be snatched away in a moment of horror, but she also taught me a valuable lesson.
Patience is not one of my virtues.
That
I have said many times that there are not many good aspects about the kind of hours I work. But without question one is that for the most part I don’t deal with traffic. There are not that many people on the road in the early-morning darkness when I head for the office. Rush hour is for the most part over by the time I pack it in and head home.
I honestly am not sure I could deal with rush-hour traffic twice is especially to true thank in traffic. every day.
Yes, I am that guy ranting and raving behind you, flailing his arms sitting in traffic.
It’s another bad habit. If this case has taught me anything, it’s that you really have no idea who that person in the other car is – or what they’re capable of doing.
I am guessing that does not come as much comfort to the Roberson family.
Bianca’s father, Rodney Roberson, has stated that the family intends to attend Desper’s preliminary hearing and has said he wants to ask him a simple question: “What gave you the right? What made you think it was all right to take my daughter.”
I don’t blame him a bit.