Reason First: The Murderer Could Have Had a Backbone

What does it take for a monster to prey upon a couple mourning their dead son at the Delaware Veterans Memorial Cemetery? In a place of solemnity and reflection, the place became a crime scene when 29-year-old Sheldon Francis opened fire against 86-year-old Paul Marino and his 85-year-old wife, Lidia. In an exchange of gunfire by Francis and Delaware State Police, the gunman fell by a police round.

Francis’ connection to the Marinos is still in question as the investigation continues. But the fact remains that this beast in the streets cast away all morality when he squeezed the trigger. The police should be applauded for their professionalism and concerted efforts to neutralize the threat beyond the two elderly victims.

What reason did Francis have in slaying the Marinos? Was his only way of dealing with his inner turmoil to murder these two people? While details continue to sprout like spring flowers, the Delaware neighborhoods are still on high alert from the nasty display of irrationality as perpetrated by Francis.

His complete disregard for logic and reason led him to this bloody ordeal. A lockdown on top of the COVID-19 lockdown came down on the occupants in the area of Bear, Delaware. Specifically, the neighborhood of Brennan Estates had been issued a high alert.

The Marinos just wanted to share time together in a setting that is draped in quiet and peace. They just wanted to visit the gravesite of their fallen hero. To outlive their own offspring and then to be gunned down like vermin in a basement demonstrates Francis' ugliness. By just holding a private observance over their son’s grave, they sought to have some semblance of serenity.

Those gun bursts disrupted that tranquility like trees cracking in the woods. The Marinos and the police should be remembered the most in all of this. The couple in death and the officers who all walked away unscathed.

Delaware weeps for the Marinos and praises the State Police. The idea of being silenced in a place of somberness delivers a gut wrenching reality to ponder.

If reason and logic had been applied to this situation, Francis would have no chance of murdering these two people and being shot dead himself. If he had in his mind to be a producer and a man of substance, he would not have been able to lift a firearm against the Marinos. The logic could have been to greet the Marinos and aided them to the gravesite. Francis could have assisted the advanced couple to go and come back from where their son had been laid to rest.

Reason would have carried Francis to a level of understanding the pain of losing a child. The comprehension of how devastating that is would have granted him the chance to demonstrate integrity. He could have had a backbone and shown some pathos instead of cancelling their lives.

Delaware State Police and other agencies stand as the guardians against brutes like Francis. They are the line of defense against the onslaught of murderers like Francis. To lay him down, the police fought their way in a battle of thought against unreason. The police officers’ rounds represented thinking while Francis’ rounds stood against the mind.

By way of the pride and power of the police force, they controlled a horrific situation that could’ve been worse. It is the strength of the boys and girls in blue that uphold the society of Delaware. These intrepid men and women in uniform are the means to deal with criminals like Francis. They are akin to the son of the Marinos who donned the uniform to hold onto his own selfish values and protect a nation. They will have not died in vain as they honored their son. The citizens of Delaware extend their respects to them.