New Year supposed to be about beginnings, not endings

LAST CHRISTMAS Stephanie Nicole Ella celebrates the 2012 holidays a few days before the New Year’s Eve tragedy.

Each time a year draws to a close, I am brought back to that day when I covered the death of a 7-year-old girl hit by a stray bullet just 15 minutes into 2013. She had been watching the fireworks with her family outside their home.

I remember how I had to hold back tears of rage, disbelief and sadness at seeing the little girl on a respirator and fighting to survive at the intensive care unit (ICU) of East Avenue Medical Center in Quezon City just because some idiot had thought it cool to celebrate the new year with gunfire.

I stumbled upon the story as a Metro beat reporter gathering data for a report on firecracker-related injuries on New Year’s Eve. When I met the girl’s mother she was trembling with grief and pain. What kind of monster would bring her daughter so close to death’s door? she asked.

New Year’s Day is, after all, supposed to be about beginnings, not endings. The adults in the family who were watching the fireworks with the girl outside their Caloocan City home, all told me one thing: It should have been them instead.

Praying for a miracle

I could only tell the girl’s mother and an aunt that I, too, would be praying for a miracle, although at the time all hope had faded. The doctor said the bullet that hit the child in the head had also lodged itself in her left eye, and that surgery was no longer an option due to the swelling of her brain. She had lapsed into a deep coma.

Thirty-eight hours and eight cardiac arrests later, the girl died. Her parents told doctors that they may now cease efforts to revive her, for “she had suffered enough.” The girl was wheeled out of the ICU, her small body under a blanket bright with the colors and shapes of her favorite cartoon show: “Spongebob Squarepants.”

Amid the black mood that descended on every person outside the hospital morgue, I wanted to keep the memory of a lively young girl instead of the searing image of a life violently and senselessly cut short. I asked the girl’s father what she was like, what were her favorites. And with a sad smile, he said his daughter loved coloring books and Barbie movies. He went on to unload a heavy burden: If only he had listened when she asked to be lifted up for a better view of the fireworks.

P2-million reward

After the girl’s death, the Philippine National Police chief ordered the Caloocan City cops to stop at nothing to find the indiscriminate shooter. The National Bureau of Investigation stepped in and President Benigno Aquino III even offered a P2-million reward for information that would lead to the arrest of the suspect.

Lawmakers renewed calls for stricter gun control laws focused on curbing the practice of indiscriminate firing particularly during the Christmas and New Year revelries.

Trail gone cold

A week into the investigation, the police came up with more than 30 suspects, who were all eventually cleared. By the girl’s first death anniversary, the gunman’s trail had gone cold and public attention had waned.

A Facebook page was opened in January 2013 to sustain public interest in the family’s search for justice. As of October this year, the latest posting on the page, named “Justice For Stephanie Nicole Ella,” was a Bible reflection:

“Sometimes God allows us to go through difficult times, even as a result of the wicked actions of others. Yet whatever we have to endure, no matter how unfair or unjust, we can be sure that God will use it for good.”