I Cannot Wait to Forget His Name

Annapolis Killer Gets Life in Prison: The Safety and Future of Local Journalism Gets the Punishment

“I cannot wait to forget his name.”

That was Summerleigh Geimer’s statement Thursday. Her mom, Wendi Winters, was killed by an angry, vindictive, and apparently not insane gunman, three years ago on June 28. Five employees of a small, local newspaper, The Capital-Gazette Newspaper, were murdered in an attack in Annapolis, Maryland. As a young journalist, I worked for the paper for a short time as its Lifestyle Editor.

In between learning how to spray “grill marks” on a burger while setting up a food shoot or assigning a reluctant reporter to cover the parade (again), I was very proud to have mentored young reporters who wrote award-winning pieces and edited some serious topics for this scrappy paper. People were underpaid and overworked, creative as hell and dedicated. One reporter, Scott Harper, was even nominated for a Pulitzer while I was there.

I don’t know the details of what went through the minds of the jury. I don’t know the mental condition of the attacker. Having spoken to former colleagues I once worked with at the same newspaper many, many years ago, I sit just after midnight in reflection of the pain their families are going through.

When I started as a copy editor on a much smaller hometown newspaper — barely 22 — I could not have imagined within my own country that…