Her mother, Donna Ganger, struggled to make sense of the violence that had stolen her daughter. “It was so stupid,” she said, voice trembling with grief and disbelief. Donna insisted that Renee was terrified in those final moments, not threatening anyone, her actions driven by fear and instinct, not aggression. The family’s grief was compounded by the knowledge that Renee’s six-year-old son would now grow up without either parent, his father having died years earlier. Neighbors recalled the warmth of both mother and child, the small acts of love and care that had defined Renee’s presence in the neighborhood. As flowers, candles, and handwritten signs began to pile up near the light pole where her SUV had crashed, the grief of the community hardened into anger, a mix of sorrow and indignation that refused to dissipate. Continue reading…
