By Stephen Millies
Deborah Danner was executed for being mentally ill. The 66-year-old Black woman was killed Oct. 18 by New York Police Sgt. Hugh Barry. Barry was part of a team of six cops who confronted the elderly woman in her Bronx apartment.
Thirty-two years before Danner was slain, another 66-year-old Black woman was killed in her Bronx apartment by police. Eleanor Bumpurs was slaughtered on Oct. 29, 1984, when Emergency Services Officer Stephen Sullivan fired his 12-gauge shotgun twice at her.
Almost five years before she was killed, Danner wrote a moving essay of what it’s like to live with schizophrenia. “Flashbacks, depression and stigma” was how she described her illness.
Referring to the Bumpurs’ killing, Danner wrote that “it was not an isolated incident.”
Danner was a skilled worker in the information technology field, dealing with management information systems. Her family felt that the stress of performing hi-tech jobs helped her disease to relapse. Danner was fired from one job after she told her boss about having schizophrenia.
She ended her essay with “I smile rarely, but I am surviving.” (New York Times, Oct. 19) Danner survived — until Sgt. Barry killed her.
Thursday, October 27, 2016
The execution of Deborah Danner 14
The execution of Deborah Danner:
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