The death of Mary Jesus
Written by dj kali_ma on June 14th, 2005 in Trainwrecks.
Then, like a swimmer taking a plunge, she leapt to her death.
“Goodbye cruel world and all that,” said the note, which blamed her suicide on an eviction she had battled fiercely — and unsuccessfully. “Everyone will say what they always say when something totally preventable isn’t prevented, ‘Why didn’t anybody do anything?’ ”
In the six months since her death at 33, Mary Jesus has become a symbol. Tenant leaders have highlighted her death as one of eviction’s darkest consequences in an era of rising rents and an urgent shortage of affordable housing.
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A lot more of this sort of thing will inevitably happen, once soldiers start coming home again.
Mental illness ain’t pretty, and neither is homelessness.
