The Murder of a Resident

Mr. Burns' ( The person slain at 572 Meadow Lake Road) alleged lifestyle is the aspect of the case that will most likely receive the most attention by the media and possibly our own residents, it is still important to keep in mind the fact that regardless of status or standing in the community (drug dealer, tanker driver, association officer, tireless public advocate, etc.), Murder is still Murder, and somebody chose to commit the act here against one of our own residents because their perception of us is of a community that will not care or take appropriate action because "this time" it was just some scuzzy pusher who got whacked in his own drug den.

What we would like our residents to remember is that other people's perceptions of Meadow Lake is what led to Burn's choosing to make us his home base initially; that in turn led to criminal activity in our area which, due to poor police coverage during his stay here finally resulted in an even greater criminal act being committed against him, right in the very heart of our community. As for having a crappy yard, well, that's something my family and I are trying to cope with ourselves - But death, either to my family, to me or to someone with a criminal record is no solution to the issue, nor should the issue of yard upkeep, drug use or any other human failing ever be an acceptable reason for shrugging off a crime as heinous as the taking of another human being's life.

The majority of the residents of Meadow Lake don't condone whatever criminal activity Burns may or may not have been engaged in here. The Meadow Lake Residents Association will continue to take these issues front and center before our County officials, our Law Enforcement agencies and our Judiciary to address, not just leaving them to be sorted out by the same criminal element we're trying to get rid of. George Burns wasn't killed because people were outraged with his dealing drugs, he was killed because the drugs he was dealing probably didn't meet one of his customer's standards, and thats no damn defense.

A manned Sub-Station in Meadow Lake, combined with a more visible and available police presence here puts all residents breaking the law on notice that their lifestyles will not be tolerated within our boundaries, and that the people who would do deals with them had better think real hard before committing any act that could be construed as against the law in any way. That should be our message going forward with this if we're asked; to do less is to put attention on one crime while completely ignoring a much larger and more dangerous one for our residents. No one life is less worthy of protection than anyone else here - thats one reason why our long-time residents have always said that Meadow Lake really is "Above it All."
Respectfully submitted,
Torres Leyba
Director, MLRA