Comments on: Can You Blame the Economy for the Cameron Perks Tragedy?

By: Ritz Pastry Chef Jérôme Girardot Found Dead in Cameron Station Park - Young & Hungry - Washington City Paper

Thu, 26 Feb 2009 17:39:45 +0000

[...] There’s no good or delicate way to pass along such awful news, so forgive my straight-forward reportage on this: Jérôme Girardot, a respected pastry chef for the Ritz-Carlton hotel in the West End, was found dead on Monday in Ben Brenman Park in Cameron Station, just weeks after an earlier tragedy in the same neighborhood. [...]

By: cameron station resident

cameron station resident — Tue, 17 Feb 2009 22:15:24 +0000

It is true that all three were living in the same house, as was james' older daughter from his marriage (still intact) with yoko. james and yoko were apparently married but not romantically involved.

Dominique broke up with james, briefly leaving to live with her family in baltimore. she returned after about a week, though they did not reconcile.

at the time of the shootings, James was living in a house with a woman he was married to but did not love (in that fashion), a woman he loved but had made it extremely clear she did not love him, plus the daughters of both these unions.

dominique then left it to james to rn the coffee shop largely on his own. a friend -- another local resident had a party planned out that dominique was suppposed to cater, but dominique simply wouldn't do it. she had given up running the shop to make james deal with it. the woman (my friend) had to do all the cooking herself.

there was a lot of anger that pre-existed the shootings.

By: Venerable Bede

Venerable Bede — Sun, 08 Feb 2009 05:25:53 +0000

It is my understanding that James was currently married to Yoko (the property is still listed by the city as such). And both wife and girlfreind (Dominique) were living in the same house together. Perhaps his stress was more than financial.

By: Another C. Station Resident

Another C. Station Resident — Sat, 07 Feb 2009 18:23:08 +0000

I agree with this write up. The question becomes what role does a troubled business or does the poor economy have in a tragedy like this and without a handful of other inside facts, one may not know exactly what set the tragedy in motion. My immediate impression when I heard the "it's the economy" justification was that maybe the business troubles were a catalyst to the tragedy, but that someone that goes to such an extreme must have some other serious inner troubles. I wonder if any actions from his past could be looked at as possibly 'telling' of such future behavior. I can't easily accept that a troubled business and a poor economy create murderous gunmen from otherwise 'normal' folks. I'd imagine there's studies on those that have acted out these tragedies and there's probably a long list of past red flags and that a poor economy and troubled business is the catalyst. It's a blessing that she survived and can be there for her child.

By: cameron station resident

cameron station resident — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 01:36:36 +0000

James and dominique seemed like they had a troubled relationship. they did fight in front of customers and I know Dominique referred to herself as "newly single," but she was still living in that house. James had that "hangdog" look about him most of the time. He did tell me once, kind of guy to guy that she really wanted the shop so, he got it for her. he said he was really worried about it. i guess they both thought it would do well. she is a very vivacious girl who had a lot of interests and does well at everything,so it is a surprise if it really wasn't doing well. i keep thinking its a shame she was shot because i heard her say she was going to do a fitness competition in a few months

By: Tim Carman

Tim Carman — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 00:25:29 +0000

John,

My speculative take on your article was no knock on your reporting, which looks solid as a rock to me. I don't think there's a reason to stand by it. The only thing I'm questioning is whether the economy alone can explain this man's unfortunate actions. People can say there was a causal relationship, but I think there has to be more to it.

-Tim

By: John Arundel

John Arundel — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 23:58:08 +0000

This is John, the author of the Local Kicks story, and a former nightside crime reporter for The Miami Herald and New York Times. I stand by my account and by my sources, who asked not to be identified. The victim of the shooting has come forward with a statement that my story was an accurate depiction of how events unfolded.

By: Samuel Snowden

Samuel Snowden — Thu, 05 Feb 2009 22:33:33 +0000

According to the Alexandria Gazette Packet, $516 was found at the crime scene. And the city's vice mayor is quoted saying the business had been having tough times lately. So it's not outside the realm of possibility to suspect that money could have had something to do with it.