Police announced the apprehension of a man suspected in the deaths of dozens of women in a period that may span almost 20 years. Darren Deon Vann led police to the body of one of his victims and confessed to the murder of at least six other black women mostly thought to engage in the sex trade.
The most recent victim, Afrika Hardy, 19, was a beautiful young black woman who could have been a model. Instead she chose to sell her precious body on Backpage.com and it cost her life. Her body was found in a room at a Motel 6 in Hammond, Indiana, this past weekend. After police arrested Vann for suspicion of her murder, he took law enforcement authorities to abandoned houses in poverty stricken Gary, Indiana, where he gave descriptions of his past victims and where he left their bodies. Because of Vann’s level of cooperation with the police and statements he made, he is now suspected in murders of so many women that he could be one of the most prolific black serial killers in the nation.
The outrage and horror of his actions are not lost on police who found three bodies early Sunday morning and another three later that evening, all within a five mile radius of Gary, Indiana. Vann is a convicted sex offender with a long criminal history that includes aggravated rape in Austin, Texas, for which he served five years in prison. After he was released, he relocated to the Gary area and was listed as a registered sex offender. At this point, police have stated that at least one other victim was also strangled to death but have not listed the cause of death of the other victims.
Even though all should be thankful for his apprehension and cooperation, there is no cry of outrage that so many black women were murdered by this heartless, sex-crazed animal. Black women caught in a twilight zone of morality and survival are often the easiest and most ignored murder victims in America and yet there is no response from black celebrities or politicians. The entire world was transfixed on the #Bringbackourgirls, which was centered around the kidnapping of Nigerian schoolgirls by the terrorist group Boko Haram earlier this year. But not one national hashtag campaign was organized for the “black and missing” daughters of the United States.
