The Press Herald’s story on murder victim Isahak Muse should have come under the headline “Black Lives Don’t Matter.”

The story by reporter Megan Gray (“Slaying suspect and victim were schoolmates at Deering High,” April 10) paints a picture of the victim, a young black man, as a criminal with driving violations and an arrest for drugs. But the murder suspect, Mark Cardilli, who is white, was an Army sergeant who earned awards for conduct and had an interest in law enforcement. I thought the story made Cardilli look like the victim; he shot Muse amid a violent confrontation. Muse was dating Cardilli’s sister.

As outsiders, we can only imagine the horror as both families grieve from a nightmare that will drastically alter their lives.

We shouldn’t reach any conclusions without seeing how this case will play out in the justice system. But your portrayal of Isahak Muse is unthinkable. Regardless of Cardilli’s military record and “law and order” ethics, this murder should not have happened.

The fact that both men attended the same high school is irrelevant. They both had lives worth living. Now, one of them is gone.

Marianne O’Connor

Yarmouth

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