Killing of 2 nuns shocks poor Mississippi county
LEXINGTON, MISS. — In the poverty-stricken Mississippi county where two nuns were slain this week, forgiveness for their killer is hard to fifind, even if forgiveness is what the victims would have wanted.
Sisters Margaret Held and Paula Merrill were nurse practitioners who dedicated their lives to providing health care to people in the poorest county in the state. And as authorities search for the killer, many residents wonder how they will fifill the hole the women’s deaths have left.
“Right now, I don’t see no forgiveness on my heart,” said Joe Morgan Jr., a 58-yearold former factory worker who has diabetes and was a patient of Merrill’s at the clinic where the two nuns worked.
He said Merrill would want him to forgive whoever killed her and Held, but he hopes the perpetrator is arrested, convicted and executed.
“She doesn’t deserve to die like this, doing God’s work,” Morgan said.
The women, both 68, were found dead at their home Thursday after they failed to show up for work at the clinic, where they gave flflu shots, dispensed insulin and provided other free medical care for children and adults who can’t afffffffffffford to pay for it.
Their stolen car was found abandoned a mile from their home, and there were signs of a break-in, but police haven’t disclosed a motive.
Authorities have not said how the women were killed, but the Rev. Greg Plata of St. Thomas Catholic Church in Lexington, where the nuns had led Bible study for years, said police told him they were stabbed.
The state posted a reward of $20,000 for information leading to an arrest and conviction.
Plata said both nuns’ religious communities have asked that people pray for the killer or killers. Asked about people’s struggles to forgive, he said: “Forgiveness is at the heart of being a Christian. Look at Jesus on the cross: ‘Father, forgive them for they know not what they do.’ “
On Friday, a handwritten sign on the front door of Lexington Medical Clinic said it was closed until Monday.
The clinic and the nuns’ h o m e i n D u r a n t a r e i n Holmes Count y, population 18,000. With 44 percent of its residents living in povert y, Holmes is the seventh-poorest county in America, according to the Census Bureau.
Dr. Elias Abboud, who worked with the sisters for years and helped build the clinic, said it provided about 25 percent of all medical care in the county.
“This is a poor area, and they dignified those who are poor with outreach and respect for them,” Plata said. “They treated each person as a child of God.” PA L M B E A C H G A R D E N S — P a l m B e a c h G a r d e n s i s i nc re as i ng i t s mosquito-prevention efffffffffffforts after two Palm Beach County residents have obtained the Zika virus locally.
No Zika cases have been reported in Palm Beach Gardens.
The cit y conducts routine spraying every year, but decided to add a treatment using a pesticide called Duet, recommended for combating Zika-carrying mosquitoes. Public works employees will start spraying Monday and continue, weather-permitting, until Friday.
It takes fifive days to cover the city. Each spraying occurs between dusk and 10 p.m.
Thi s week , employee s used Naturlar T-30 tablets on catch basins, ponding grass areas and manholes targeting mosquito larvae. The city is printing signs with tips about how people can protect themselves from Zika to display in parks and public buildings, spokeswoman Candice Temple said.
“As we’re monitor i ng , we’re seeing that it’s moving closer and closer to our area. We just wanted to be more proactive,” she said.
The city does two rounds of routine spraying each year during the summer. Because of the rain, there was a third round of spraying this year, Temple said. The extra effffffffffffort for Zika will be the fourth.
The treatment effffffffffffective at fifighting Zika-carrying mosquitoes costs almost three times as much as the regular treatment. The chemical used for the other three rounds of spraying, Anvil 2+2 ULV, costs $3,463 for 55 gallons. Duet costs $10,258.
Palm Beach Gardens also is providing Skin So Soft Bug Guard Plus for city employees, especially those who work outside, and for children at the Riverside Youth Enrichment Center to put on before they go outside.
T h e f i r s t P a l m B e a c h County Zika case was made public Aug. 8. No information about the person including where he or she lives — was disclosed, except the infection likely occurred during a visit to Wynwood, an arts district north of downtown Miami.
A 24-year-old Lake Worth woman was confifirmed Aug. 24 as the second Palm Beach County resident to contract the virus from a local mosquito. She said she hasn’t traveled outside of Palm
Inspect and remove standing water in bird baths, flower pots or spare tires.
Wear long-sleeved clothing and use insect repellent with DEET, picaridin, or oil of lemon eucalyptus or paramenthane-diol (PMD) as an active ingredient.
Repair holes in screens or doors to keep mosquitoes outside. Use air conditioning when available.
Zika information line: 561-630-1112 Beach County in months. The cases are not related, according to state health offifficials.
Palm Beach Gardens established a Zika information hotline at 561-630-1112.
A team that includes the police and fifire chiefs, human resources director and director of public services and emergenc y management was activated this past week, Temple said. There was some public concern, including an inquiry on the city’s online request system.
With two confifirmed cases in Palm Beach County, Palm B e a c h Ga r d e n s o f f i c i a l s wanted to conduct a “rigorous” spraying schedule and provide residents with as much information as possible, Mayor Marcie Tinsley said.
“I hope our neighboring cities will follow suit and help create a united front to combating this serious issue,” she said.