Who knows what happened to Da'Coreyan Blankenship?
Of course the killer knows, but probably at least a half-dozen other people know as well, maybe more. Several times that number "know" without being able to offer any proof.
Most assuredly, the word is on the streets. If it's there, it should have been whispered to the police by now.
Not that the police have any shortage of cases to work on. Of the six killings this year, the only one solved has been a murder-suicide. How many detectives in the Longview Police Department are even assigned to work on homicides?
I don't know, but this is not an episode of "NCIS" where the crime gets solved neatly in an hour, or, if it is really special, two hours.
But this was no "perfect" murder. The killers are not masterminds of crime.
The fact is almost all criminals are outright dumb. I'm sorry to be so blunt about it, but most people turn to crime because they cannot do anything else. Then, after getting caught several times and going to jail or prison, they don't even try to learn to do something else.
So we know those who killed Blankenship are both stupid and mean. That does leave a fair number of suspects, I admit, but most people are killed by someone they know.
This person (or people) knew Blankenship and obviously had trouble with him before the night of March 3, when the slaying took place. Maybe the problems happened shortly before the killing - say, within the previous three days - and others saw it. Perhaps it was a long-festering feud.
People know and, because these bumpkins likely lack the mental acuity to easily read this sentence, if they would give the police just a few hints, investigators will do the rest of the work. Evidence is still intact, just waiting to be introduced into a court of law.
This isn't just about Blankenship, either. There is evidence out there about the other unsolved deaths in Longview, too, and we're sure some cold cases are included on that list. Be it 2015 or 2005, there's no statute of limitations on murder.
If fear of retribution is keeping you from calling, then you may as well just join the criminals because there is little you could do more to help them avoid prosecution. If you have called and the police haven't acted on your tip, then call again or, heck, call me. The number is a simple one, (903) 237-7737.
Just remember, there's no reward for calling me other than a warm fuzzy feeling that you have at least done something to bring needed justice to your community.
I don't know much about Blankenship other than he graduated from Longview High School in 2011, had a son and a good smile. He appeared to have a full-time job, too. If you are wondering if he was mixed up in dangerous activity that led to his death I couldn't say.
Even if he was that doesn't make him getting shot any less of a crime. It wouldn't make getting justice for his killer any less important, either.
Back in the 1960s when I was growing up, America faced a real problem with the "misdemeanor" murder. That is, murders police treated as minor crimes and where the killers were either never caught or received light prison sentences when convicted.
The killing of Da'Coreyan Blankenship is bad enough we don't want to compound it with the crime of not caring enough as a community to seek justice. That would be foolish.
Criminals are stupid enough. We don't want to dumb down to their level.
- Phil Latham is associate editor of the News-Journal. His column appears Wednesday. E-mail him at platham@news-journal.com
