These past few days the newspapers have been reporting the sentencing portion of the James Holmes multiple murder trial in Colorado.
Holmes was recently convicted of a mass shooting in a movie theater three years ago. He killed a dozen people and critically wounded many more; some remain permanently disabled. Now the victims who survived and the families of the deceased are testifying about how devastating the losses have been, in an effort to persuade the jury to hand Holmes the death penalty and not give him life in prison with no chance of parole.
Here’s what the New York Times wrote about one of the witnesses. Bolding mine:
Caren Teves, who lost her firstborn in the shootings, told jurors her agonizing grief has devolved into constant pain. “It’s God-awful. It’s horrific. I miss everything about him,” Teves said.
She glared at Holmes. He swiveled in his chair.
“I did not realize that grief turned into physical pain,” she said. “It hurts your entire being, but it also gives you physical pain. I’m in pain every day.”
Teves said the stress of her son’s murder has accelerated her Parkinson’s disease. He was athletic, intelligent and thoughtful, she said.
My website typically focuses on people with Parkinson’s disease who lessen the severity of their symptoms through physical exercise, gardening, playing music, or other creative pursuits. However, here we have a sad case of the opposite.
