Reader: Pick was witty, compassionate, gentle
I received these e-mails about Steve Pick, the gunman who committed suicide after killing his 5-year-old son and mother-in-law and wounding his wife.
Kathyrn Hahn writes:
Kathyrn Hahn writes:
"I grew up across the street from Steven. My family is very close with their family, in fact my sister is best friends with his sister. The news we received is devestating and I am sure there is going to be plenty of finger pointing and hatred.
This single act has devastated many families. A mother has lost her oldest child and her mother. A beloved grandmother, mother and wife is forever gone. And an innocent child has been lost.
The question 'why' will be asked without an answer. At a time like this it is easy to find hatred among grief, to add pain on top of pain. There is no answer as to why this happened.
There is no lesson to be learned and I am not trying to erase anyone's pain. But I do know this much. Hatred and evil are the root cause of this.
The Steven Pick I knew was a funny, smart and sensitive person. Him and I shared a love of books as well as a common trait. We both struggled with addiction. I do not know if addiction caused Steven to do something so horrible. And yet if it did, it is not surprising.
The only lesson that can come from this is to realize a restraining order is just a piece of paper, it has never blocked a single bullet. And if a restraining order is needed in the first place, the person the restraining order is placed upon should be put in jail or a mental institution until he/she is deemed safe. It may seem extreme, but not any more extreme than a man killing his child, his mother-in law and his wife.
I am so sorry for the mother of this child and daughter of this woman. And as much as I would like to hate Steven for what he did, I cannot. I hate that his child is dead and his mother-in law, I hate the sickness and evil that caused this and I am sorry he could not see past his own hatred and get the help he so needed in order for this to be prevented.
I have shed so many tears and will continue to and I will never believe or be ok with this child's death or his grandmother. I will forever ask what could have been done and wonder how the person I knew could do this. But I will also grieve the person I knew to be witty, funny, compassionate and gentle.
Nothing will ever be the same for these families and I can only hope that law enforcement and others that understand this will take action to do more than just provide a piece of paper. My love and prayers and thoughts go out to all of those who have survived this and I have to believe that Tyler and his grandmother are in a place of peace and serenity.
And for the survivor, the mother and child left behind, I wish all the strength, prayers and hope for the trying days ahead.
Anonymous Neighbor writes:
I grew up with this man, and he was a good guy. Unfortunately he was not only going through a divorce, but he was having normal difficulties that we all have during the course of life.
I will tell you that Steven must have been hurting very bad to have done this. I feel so bad for his wife and Stevens family. I can assure you that they were good parents and a good loving family. I will not speculate on why, and how a man can do this.
What I would like to come of this is a change in the restraining order laws. We have a two week waiting period for weapon purchases in our state, why not a cool down period when police are called to a restraining order "type" of call? If Steven would have been detained for 72 hours than maybe this tragic event would not have happened.
I'm not assessing blame or insinuating the police were at fault. They were not, and the Torrance police are to be held in the highest of respect from all of us citizens. Steven loved his children so very much and that makes this even more difficult to accept. Pain in any form hurts. I'm shocked and stunned. I just wanted to let you know a very little of the man who committed this crime.
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About the Blogger
Larry Altman has covered crime in the South Bay since 1990. He's seen it all - the missing model who turned up dead in the desert, the wives found dead in trunks, the high-school coaches who get a little too close to their players. He drives his young colleagues nuts with his "I remember when" stories. He welcomes your tips and observations about the present, and you can mix in a little Lakers basketball talk if you like.
E-mail Larry at larry.altman@dailybreeze.com.
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Can someone please explain to me why you are displaying a picture of murderer who killed his son and mother-in-law? Shame on you Daily Breeze for posting a picture which portrays this monster as a doting father!!!
Sometimes people think we go to great lengths to try to make some sort of point. It's just a picture.
That photo is simply one we found on the Web. That's all. It's the one we had. You'll likely see others in the print edition tomorrow that we also found in Google searches on the Web.
If he looks doting, perhaps that's because it's a shot of him and his son the day the boy was born. I would imagine he smiled quite a bit that day.
The baby is also the boy he would kill five years after the photo was taken.
I am a sister to the other bloggers who grew up across the street from Stephens family.
We have known this family for 40 years now. They are in deep grief over the loss of their grandson. None of us can even begin to understand how much anger they are going through right now. They need so much love themselves and utmost compassion.
What I want to know is how many of us have drug dependant people in our lives? Almost every family in America today. I never thought I would say this myself, but this really could happen to anyone!
My understanding is Stephen doted on his children, but like so many, drugs took him over and he lost and they lost. May God help us all with a national drug epidemic going on. When is the madness going to stop? I hope just one drug user today will reflect on what their drug use may end up costing them...
>the person the restraining order is placed upon should be put in jail or a mental institution until he/she is deemed safe.
Whoa! Today restraining orders are granted upon request, with no proof required they are/were necessary. A girlfriend or wife who is simply mad at her partner can get one, and then you are saying this person who most of the time is innocent and harmless, can be jailed indefinitely?
Your point brings up a frequently (and perhaps purposely?) misstated principle. That is the security of one individual is so important it outweighs the security of everyone.
This applies to your example where upon an unsubstantiated allegation, a restraining order is issued and the person can be held indefinitely (there is no way to prove someone is "safe"), and this puts at risk any individual in the entire population of being summarily incarcerated.
Steve was not a monster. Steve was a drug addict. This isn't about restraining orders and pointing fingers. It isn't about whether he loved his children! You can see the pictures, you know he did. It's about drugs and how they can and will destroy.
I knew Steve as a child, and he was funny and crazy...in a good way. I have found memories of backpacking trips and hanging out at Hickory Park.
I truly believe that drugs did this; Steve was not in his right mind. He needed help that he never got.
The Pick's are good, loving people and I pray for them during this most difficult time. I am so sorry and I hope your pain is eased by family and friends.
We have to help people with addiction~ not ignore them or just throw them in jail. If there is someone in your life spiraling out of control, don't wait...get them the help they need and maybe another tragedy can be prevented.
God bless you, Pick family.
1) Drug use destroys people's lives. Drug laws mostly don't work. (We can't keep drugs and weapons out of the hands of people in prison, good luck on the rest of society.) People like this guy need real help as soon as the problem is detected.
2) Restraining orders are a "political" fix. That is they pretend to solve a problem but actually do nothing. They need to be eliminated and something effective added in their place.
This was a tragic event. Thank God it wasn't worse.