Having a co-worker steal your lunch is undoubtedly infuriating, but is your revenge for that infraction worth spending your life in prison?
Apparently, a Virginia man thought so, at least in the moment.
On Tuesday, Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Steve Descano announced that Bazen Berhe, 25, has been sentenced to 100 years in prison for killing Hernan Leiva, 58, in the parking lot of the Target where they both worked.
Descano’s news release said Leiva, a janitor at the store, was stabbed and bludgeoned to death “for taking Berhe’s lunch from the office fridge.”
In Behre’s mind, it seems, that minor annoyance warranted his spending a few days “training for the murder” and then, on April 17, 2021, killing Leiva with a hammer and two knives in the employee parking lot, the release said.
“Behre confessed to the crime immediately and pleaded guilty to first-degree murder in October of 2023,” Descano’s release said.
During his sentencing hearing, it said, the defendant “threatened to kill or hurt other people if he wasn’t given the harshest possible sentence.”
The judge complied, sentencing Behre to the full 100 years with 30 years suspended, making for a total of 70 years in prison.
Was this a fair sentence for Behre?
Considering what Leiva’s family has had to go through, one would think giving the janitor’s killer the harshest possible sentence would be a no-brainer.
As Descano said in a statement, “Mr. Leiva’s unnecessary and tragic death leaves behind a grieving family and community, one that will never be the same after such a senseless act of violence.”
CA Descano announced today that Bazen Berhe, 25, was sentenced to 100 years for the 2021 murder of Hernan Leiva, 58, in the parking lot of the Bailey’s Crossroads Target where they both worked. pic.twitter.com/1bqPJkZ8Zc
— Fairfax County Commonwealth’s Attorney Descano (@FairfaxCountyCA) January 30, 2024
As shocking as this brutal murder is over such a trivial offense, it’s but a symptom of the increasing level of violence and disregard for life plaguing our society.
School shootings are becoming so frequent that children have active shooter drills (even in day cares); riots were tolerated and even encouraged in the summer of 2020; and murders in our urban areas are reaching record numbers.
The question is, why?
Our liberal elites have their own answers — answers that conveniently allow them to expand their already bloated power — but the truth probably encompasses a variety of answers.
Part of this loss of respect for human life comes from our culture’s abandonment of God. Regardless of what atheists try to argue, all foundation of ethics and morality comes from God, and the notion of each person having inherent dignity came from Christianity.
Further, the widespread practice and legalization of abortion in our society have conditioned people to think of life as disposable. If we’re encouraged to murder the youngest and most helpless among us, how are we to coherently argue that it was wrong for Behre to kill his co-worker over a stolen lunch?
After all, by that standard, Leiva was worthier of death than the thousands of innocent unborn babies killed every day.
It’s a hard question to answer, but it’s a fact that a society without God can’t coherently defend the dignity of human life.
Maybe, if our culture can turn back to God, we could see a significant diminishment of this scourge of brutal and senseless violence.
