Let us not forget Jitka
Vesel who was murdered on April 13, 2011. We
will remember her on her birthday on August 15 every year also.
Jitka Vesel,
36
On the evening of April 13, 2011,
Jitka was volunteering at a small museum in a quiet Chicago suburb. She loved
being part of the museum’s close community, and the community adored her.
Jitka was alone in the museum parking
lot when Dmitry Smirnov, a man who was obsessed with her, ambushed her with a
.40-caliber handgun.
Dmitry lived in Vancouver, British
Columbia. Unbeknownst to Jikta, he had been in town for two weeks and was
stalking her. He had come to kill her.
Smirnov couldn’t legally buy a
handgun, so he exploited a gaping hole in our gun laws that allowed him to go
online and buy gun without first having to pass a background check. He logged
on to Armslist.com, found a .40-caliber Smith & Wesson, and arranged a
meeting in a casino parking lot with Benedict Ladera, an unlicensed seller who
had posted over 20 guns for sale on Armslist.
As Ladera was not a licensed gun
seller, he did not conduct a Brady background check on his customers. If one
had been performed, it would have probably taken less than 60 seconds. And
Smirnov—a Canadian national—would not have been able to purchase the gun.
Benedict Ladera knew it was illegal to
sell his gun to Jitka’s killer. But for an extra $200 cash, he agreed to look
the other way. During sentencing, he would later tell the court, “I didn’t mean
for it to happen. My mistake was the reason a life was lost.
Jitka Vesel
(August 15, 1974 to April 13, 2011)
|
INTERNET SOURCE: http://czechoslovakmuseum.com/memoriam.php
Jitka Vesel
is the former curator of the Czechoslovak Heritage Museum and has been serving
in the volunteer position of Secretary of its Board of Trustees. Jitka is of
Czech and Slovak descent, having been born in the Czech Republic, where she
lived until the age of nine. She immigrated to the United States with her
mother (who has since passed away) and her two brothers.
Jitka's
vibrant life and energy were tragically ended on April 13th, following her
attendance at a meeting of the Museum Board, working with other Board members
for a special museum event honoring former Chicago Mayor Anton Cermak, the only
Czech-born American of a US city.
Jitka was a
warm and helpful young woman, passionate about her Czech and Slovak heritage.
She believed that the Czechoslovak Heritage Museum should be preserved for
future generations because it is an integral part of the heritage of the
Slovak, Moravian, and Czech people. Her dedication of time, efforts, and energy
toward its success will be sorely missed, and those who knew her will not forget
her legacy and her life.
Thank you for remembering my Jitty, I love you girlie and think about you everyday...you are LOVED...always...
ReplyDeleteThank you for remembering my Jitty, I love you girlie and think about you everyday...you are LOVED...always...
ReplyDelete