The "Murder at my Alma Mater" Story

It was an ordinary day.  Just opened the email and found a short letter from the Millersville University Alumni Association which was signed by John Anderson, Ph.D., President of Millerville University.  Letter addressed the murder of a young woman who was a freshman at the University this past Sunday.  

A Facebook photo of 18 year-old Karlie Hall.

Karlie Hall was an 18 year old from Chadds Ford, Pennsyl- vania who graduated from Unionville High School in Chester County, PA last year.  Karlie had a twin sister as well as an older sister.  The three sisters were raised by their mother with Karlie and her twin both entering Millersville this past fall.  Police charged her boyfriend, Gregorio Orrostieta, first with aggravated assault and later with murder.  Orrostieta was not a student at Millersville.   The Lancaster Newspaper described the first ever murder at Millersville University by saying that the freshman "fought for her life" while being beaten and ultimately strangled during a fight with her boyfriend in her dorm room.  The two had attended a party together earlier in the evening and got into a disagreement at the party.  This escalated into the fight when they returned to her dorm room at Bard Hall.  Orrostieta admitted to police that he and Hall got into a fight and that he pushed her as well as giving her a back hand to her face.  He claimed that after that she became unresponsive.  That was close to 2:00 a.m. Sunday morning.  At 5:00 a.m. he placed a call to 911 reporting that she'd had a heart attack.  He was kneeling over her giving CPR when aide arrived.  This guy had scratches on his chest, blood smeared on him and he has the nerve to say she had a heart attack.  Wow!  I remember over 50 years ago visiting with friends in Bard Hall when I was a student at what was then known as Millersville State Teachers College.  The changing of the charge occurred after the coroner determined that she had died from strangulation.  There seem to be more and more reports of domestic violence all over the country.  Why?  For what it's worth, I believe it has to do with the attitude of younger people towards violence.  They see it every day of their lives on TV, in movies and while playing video games.  Even the advertisements on TV have more violence in them than any TV show or movie I EVER watched when I was a young teenager.  Guns have become the fists of my era when settling a dispute with physical action.  And, social media is a tool to reinforce violence with posting acts and thoughts that at one time were unthinkable.  I only hope and pray that my grandchildren can survive this violent atmosphere unscathed.  May be tough to do with the attitudes that the younger generation seem to be developing today.  I watch my children trying to instill love and morals in my grandchildren and hope that they are successful in their endeavors.  But, peer pressure seems to be greater than when I was a child.  Here's hoping they will win the fight against all the violence in the world.  And, may Karlie Hall never be forgotten at Millersville University.  It was another extraordinary day in the life of an ordinary guy.