Hundreds of mourners left Saint Jude Roman Catholic Church in Monroe after the funeral mass for 24-year-old Kevin Sutherland, the victim of a savage attack in Washington, D.C. on the Fourth of July.
These people knew Sutherland not as a passenger murdered on the Metro, but as the student government secretary at Trumbull High School, as a man with a promising future.
Last Wednesday, Greenwich Congressman Jim Himes, for whom Sutherland had worked, spoke of Sutherland on the House floor. He said 20 years from now, Sutherland might have served in Congress.
"Now," Himes said, "that's not going to happen. ... He believed that we could come together. He believed that we could set aside petty prejudices. He believed that we could bring our voices together in this chamber and make a better world."
Authorities in Washington say Jasper Spires stabbed Sutherland at least 30 times while others riding the Metro watched in horror.
Two days prior, police had arrested Spires in connection with a robbery. One day before, he was able to leave jail.
On the Fourth of July, Sutherland had a cellphone and, allegedly, Spires wanted it.
