In the summer of 2013 in Pueblo, Colorado, the life of 18-year-old Michael Bailey was cut tragically short. On the night of July 8, a shooting occurred off of Creston Drive. Bailey, a male, was at a party at a friend's house, less than 100 feet from his own home, when the incident took place around 11:30 p.m. He was pronounced dead shortly after midnight.
The devastating news reached his family in a shockingly modern and impersonal way: through 'rest in peace' messages posted on his Facebook page. It was twelve hours after his death before his family received official confirmation from the police.
The investigation into the shooting revealed that Bailey had taken an old gun to the party. Authorities ultimately ruled his death an accidental shooting, indicating that drugs and alcohol may have been contributing factors. Due to the determination of an accidental death, there were no suspects pursued and no arrests were made in connection with the incident.
The painful circumstances of his death were compounded by the manner in which his family was notified. His mother learned of the tragedy not from officials, but from her other son who had seen the social media posts. The hospital where he was taken had no record of him under his name, as he had been brought in as a John Doe without identification. The experience left his family grappling not only with the sudden loss of a young man who was the first in his family to graduate from high school, but also with the profound distress of learning about his death through the informal and unfeeling void of the internet.
