• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Home
  • About the author and her website
  • References
  • Archives
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Contact Page

Defrosting Cold Cases

Research website by Alice de Sturler

  • My Research Method
  • How to search for cases
  • Cold Case Database
  • Case of the Month: Rita Hester
  • Book Reviews
  • Unsolved Cases Database A-G
  • Unsolved Cases Database H-N
  • Unsolved Cases Database O-Z
You are here: Home / Vidocq Unscripted / Would you have allowed this man to bleed to death?

Would you have allowed this man to bleed to death?

April 26, 2010 By Alice

homeless  blleds to death and nobody helps
BBC

Would you have allowed this homeless man to bleed to death? Look at what the BBC posted about what happened in New York City to Mr. Tale-Yax, a homeless man, 31 years old, from Guatemala. He was stabbed after coming to a woman’s aid. Then, this homeless man was left to die while passers-by ignored him, as CCTV footage showed.

This is the story: on the security camera video, a woman is seen. She is being followed by a man who then appears to attack her. Mr. Tale-Yax walks towards them to help the woman. Off-camera, he is stabbed several times while trying to help. The camera captures the apparent attacker running away. Mr. Tale-Yax was stabbed repeatedly and collapsed. Many people walked by as he lay bleeding to death on the pavement. Where was the woman who seemed to need help? Why did she not help this man? More than an hour and a half went by before someone packed up the courage to see whether this man needed help.

Now change this story: instead of Mr. Tale-Yax trying to help this woman, a young man comes to the rescue. He is clean shaven, his hair washed, and his suit is neatly pressed. His is holding a to-go coffee cup, a folded paper under one arm, and a briefcase in his free hand. He runs to the woman to help, chases the attacker, and fights him. This young man gets stabbed and the attacker runs off.

The difference here is that as soon as this young man started running to help the woman, he would have attracted the attention of others who would have joined in. He set the right example! Others would have responded with frantic 911 calls from cells phones the second they realized what was going on. And when this young man collapses on the pavement, they would have offered jackets to use as a pillow under his head, they would have tried to stop the bleeding, not even being worried about getting dirty in the process because they would have been determined to save this young man’s life! He is their hero! And they would be angry if the ambulance arrived within 2 minutes instead of one because after all, there was a life at stake here!

Switch back to reality.

The true hero, who came to a woman’s rescue, is not someone who leaves us with great first impressions in contrast to my fictional young man. No suitcase, no smell of shampoo, and no appearance that would make us smile and greet him on the streets. No, this is just another homeless person, just another nuisance, and why the heck did he need to lay here on the pavement! I bet many of the people who just walked past did not even notice that this man was fatally wounded!

Do we treat homeless people differently? YES!

Until we can find it in our heart and conscience to treat all people equally, the authorities need to set an example. Florida did just that by amending their Hate Crime Laws.

This example shows that they are serious about striving for equality for all and if you do not wish to listen, they will spell it out for you during your sentencing hearing. And until we all listen, we will probably need these laws. They may not be prefect but they just might be the best we have.

As usual, I welcome your comments. My deepest sympathy to the family of Mr. Tale-Yax. May he rest in peace. The BBC article is here.

Thank you for sharing!

  • Click to share on Twitter (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pinterest (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Facebook (Opens in new window)
  • Click to print (Opens in new window)
  • Click to email this to a friend (Opens in new window)
  • More
  • Click to share on LinkedIn (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Pocket (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Skype (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on WhatsApp (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Telegram (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Reddit (Opens in new window)
  • Click to share on Tumblr (Opens in new window)

Related

Filed Under: Vidocq Unscripted Tagged With: Hate Crime Laws, Homeless People, New York City

Primary Sidebar

Dina Fort

Author Notes

On this website, I write about old, unsolved cases. Most are from the pre-DNA era and are in need of renewed media attention. I only do research and leave the active investigation of these cases to the professionals.

My posts are about homicides, missing and unidentified people, wrongful convictions, and forensics as related to these cases.

On book reviews: I only review select works of true crime, crime fiction, and historical fiction/mysteries. The stories have to fit my website's theme and research. It remains my prerogative to not review a book.

My database has over 325 cases listed by the victim’s last name. You will find a brief description there as well. The database will always be free to the public to use. You cannot buy ad space on my website, ever.

All writing suggestions that come in by email are added to my to-do list in the order in which they were received. Please be patient. My to-do list is very long but no case gets dropped and I will get back in touch.

Defrosting Cold Cases is NOT an organization. It is my brainchild.

If you have any questions about my website please check the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) page, the about page, and the tabs in both menu bars. If you still cannot find the answer there, please contact me.

Thank you,

Alice de Sturler

Copyright

If you use my work, please add a link back. Let your readers know where you found your information. I do the same for you. Thank you!

Protected by Copyscape

Categories

Top Posts & Pages

  • Cold Case Database
  • Hazel Juanita Hanna and Cynthia Lorraine Bell
  • Gina Renee Hall partial remains found
  • How to search for cases
  • Rita Hester (Nov 30, 1963 - Nov 28, 1998)

Subscribe to DCC by email

Enter your email address to get new posts notifications in your inbox

RSS Defrosting Cold Cases

  • Rita Hester (Nov 30, 1963 – Nov 28, 1998)
  • Missing: Norvel Robert Nelson III
  • Gun Violence
  • Emily Johanne Carmela Starkloff
  • Donald Ray Watson (1953 – 1978)

William Thomas Zeigler

Category: ALL POSTS

On March 31, 2016, an evidentiary hearing was held to request touch DNA testing. On July 18, 2016, Judge Whitehead denied that request.

On November 23, 2016, an appeal was filed with the Florida Supreme Court. On April 21, 2017, the Florida Supreme Court denied the request for touch DNA analysis.

On May 8, 2017 a motion for a rehearing with the US Supreme Court was filed. It was denied November 13, 2017.

In the summer of 2019, the appeal for DNA testing to the Florida Conviction Integrity Unit was denied.

Richard Lapointe

Category: ALL POSTS

In March 2015, the Connecticut State Supreme Court ordered a new trial for Richard lapointe. On Oct 2, 2015, International Wrongful Conviction Day, Richard was set free. The judge ruled that he cannot be retried for the 1987 rape-murder of Mrs. Bernice Martin. Richard Lapointe died on Aug 4, 2020 of Covid19 complications.

In 1987, someone killed Bernice Martin. I hope that she will not become a forgotten file.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs 3.0 Unported License.
Copyright: Please add a link back if you use my work. Let your readers know where you found your information. I do the same for you. If you need help with this, just contact me. Thank you, Alice de Sturler

[footer_backtotop]

Copyright © 2009–2021 - Defrosting Cold Cases - All rights reserved · Hosting & WordPress: 3J WordPress Write Data

wordpress counter

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.