When trouble comes, unarmed witnesses can't help

The Cleveland Plain Dealer this week told the tragic story this week of a woman murdered in the presence of several unarmed witnesses.

From the story:

Nicole English can't escape the memory of the woman's violent end.

It makes no difference that she didn't know the victim, Kimberly Benson, or her husband, James Benson, a former Maple Heights councilman and mayoral contender charged Monday with aggravated murder.

The memory haunts English, 23, of Shaker Heights, nonetheless because she saw it happening and couldn't help.

In an interview with The Plain Dealer, English said she was driving between a chain-link fence and a vacant lot on South Miles Road near Lee Road in Cleveland about 2 p.m. Saturday when she saw a gold 2000 Dodge Intrepid.

A woman kicked open the Intrepid's driver-side door, flailed her arms and screamed for help.

English stopped her car beside the Intrepid and saw the 44-year-old wearing dressy boots, jeans and a white shirt. Her makeup was done, "like she was going someplace special," but her face was panic-stricken.

A man, whose face English couldn't see, was restraining her as she struggled to escape.

"She was begging, begging, begging, kicking and screaming," English said.

English said she couldn't help at the time because it was just her and her sister in the car with English's two young daughters.

English saw some men up the street. She drove to them and asked them to help. Then she heard the gunshot.

She said she saw a man jump from the passenger seat of the car and run away.

The story goes on to recount English’s return to the automobile, and the death of the woman in the car amidst a crowd of witnesses.

It is impossible to know how this story might have been changed if one of the witnesses had been armed. And under current Ohio law, third-party intervention in a conflict of this nature has its own risks. But it is clear that being able to do nothing in this situation was the worst option of all.

Again, from the story:

No matter what English tries to concentrate on, she said, the memory of Benson's death keeps creeping into her thoughts - her soft skin, her perfume, her cries for help.

"I didn't know her," English said, "but I can't stop thinking about her."

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