Shame on Staff Writer William West and on The Daily Advance editor, Mike Goodman! I do not condone what the two young men recently shot to death in Elizabeth City may have done in their lives. But it is not my place nor is it yours to judge them.

Yes, young lives were lost; but to print their criminal records in the newspaper? I was so upset after reading the article Mr. West wrote that I had to wait to send a response.

What did you seek to gain from this? Families and friends are mourning the loss of these young men. Are you now going to write every citizen’s transgressions in their obituaries as well? Your insensitivity and lack of professionalism is circumspect.

Basically you wrote that these young men deserved what they got because of their criminal records. This was done without any consideration for the families they left behind.

As I said before, shame on you Mr. West for writing with such disregard for the families left behind. And shame on you Daily Advance for printing such a biased article.

MARCIA QUINNSFlbElizabeth City

Editors note: The referenced article was written to add context to the developing story about how the murder of the two men may have been related to past incidents. Some of those incidents have resulted in criminal charges. The story does not suggest that anyone deserved to be murdered. The deaths were not accidental. They were the result of crimes committed, and it is the newspaper’s responsibility to provide some context about the incident to our readers who are affected by crimes in their community.