The victim: Mia Janelle Henderson

There can be no feeling of satisfaction in the tragic case of two Navajo students at the University of Arizona.

Galareka Harrison, 19, was sentenced this week to spend the rest of her life in prison without the possibility of parole. She was convicted of murdering her UA roommate, 18-year-old Mia Janelle Henderson, last year.

It was a horrible outcome to two stories of promise. The girls didn’t know each other before coming to UA. Both grew up on the Navajo Nation, both were outstanding students and both were determined to use their education to benefit their people.

Now two families who were proud of their daughters are left in ruins.

Henderson’s family asked for the life-without-parole term, and Superior Court Judge Nanette Warner agreed. But there is no closure in such a painful case. Our thoughts are with the families of both young women.

The killer: Galareka Harrison

This entry was posted on Saturday, November 29th, 2008 at 12:00 am and is filed under Opinion. Tags for this post: Crime/Safety, Editorials, Opinion-Crime/Safety, Opinion-Crime/Safety-Editorials, page-b01. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.