Sometimes you come across a story that leaves you with no real words. Such is the tragic story of running back Isayah Muller. The 19-year old star at Truman High School in the Bronx was on his way to a family dinner after his graduation ceremony when a confrontation escalated.
But as they left for City Island, a place that looks like a small fishing village and feels like it’s worlds away from the craziness that is the Bronx, his dad noticed something was missing from the car: a box of cologne he’d gotten for his son as a graduation present. So Mr. Muller decided to turn the car around, and go back to the Jerome Avenue parking lot that they’d just left. He wanted to confront the parking lot attendants who he thought had stolen his son’s gift.
When they got to the M.T. Jerome Town lot, the older Muller got out of the car and got into an argument with two attendants. The argument got heated, and then a fight broke out. Isayah, who is 5-10, 180-pounds of fast twitch muscle fiber, was out of the car at this point, and he and his dad, who is 40, began fighting the attendants. The attendants pulled out knives.
Isayah tried to protect his father by hitting one of the attendants on the arm with a shovel but in the process was stabbed once in the side and once in the chest, piercing his heart. He was pronounced dead at a local hospital a short time later.
When stories like these are reported, all of the same words get used like clichés – sad, senseless, tragic, unnecessary. Unfortunately, it happens because all of those words are fitting. It’s always a terrible thing to have someone’s life cut down over something as petty as a missing box of cologne. It’s even worse when it’s a young person who has the promise of great things in front of them.