Steve Stephens Commits Suicide Proving Mental Health Illness Exist In BLACK Communities

THE TABOO SUBJECT

Steve Stephens, deemed as the Facebook Live killer, was found April 18th 2017 in PA by the police and before being taken in, committed suicide. Steve was seen on Facebook Live appearing to be of sound mind until he said he killed 15 people, and showed everyone who didn’t believe him he was serious when he randomly killed an elderly man, Robert Godwin in Cleveland.

Even though no one can confirm the alleged 15 kills, it sparked viral conversation via social media. One conversation that has yet to be had is the conversation about mental illness. Too often people of colour believe mental illness to be a lie created by pharmaceutical companies to obtain more money from the poor. While the latter is true, so is mental illness, and Steve Stephens is just one example of that.

Steve Stephens The Man Behind The Murderer:

Steve was a college educated loving man, who based on evidence during the video and police suicide, suffered from mental illness. When terrorist Dylann Roof shot and killed Black people in Charleston, known as the Charleston 9, media instantly deemed him mentally unhealthy. The cops even took him to get something to eat after his murdering spree. Steve, although not defending his actions, was instantly appropriated as a terrible human being, thug, Black terror, when in fact, he suffered from mental illness.

“We had been in a relationship for several years. I am sorry that all of this has happened. My heart & prayers goes out to the family members of the victim(s). Steve really is a nice guy… he is generous with everyone he knows. He was kind and loving to me and my children. This is a very difficult time for me and my family Please respect our privacy at this time.“ – Joy Lane, The Root

According to his ex Steve was a generous, nice man who was kind and loving to her kids and she couldn’t believe he did this. During the video Steve Stephens claimed the reason he was killing was because of his ex. Reactions like this from people close to him gives insight to who he was before his mental illness took over. While claims of possible secret homosexuality have come forth, neglecting mental illness as a reason should never be off the table when it comes to sporadic moments like this. Not just for white people like Dylann Roof, but for people of colour too. Sometimes we can’t control our illness’s and instead of ignoring the issues we sense early on, we should seek help to prevent something like this from ever happening again.

– Thanks For Reading #SOULdiers