IN LOVING MEMORY OF JITKA VESEL (AUGUST 15, 1974 TO APRIL 13, 2011)

            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

(August 15, 1974 to April 13, 2011)

INTERNET SOURCE: http://www.bradycampaign.org/gun-violence/victim-stories/jitka-vesel-36

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.