And there is a bit more from the original opinion piece written by the mother of the victim:

She was rushed to the hospital, where she spent two days in intensive care and 18 more days as an in-patient. We watched her suffer for weeks in great physical and emotional pain as she worked hard to recover, but tragically, our beautiful and vibrant daughter died of complications caused by her gunshot wounds.

Source: Maine Voices: A daughter’s death demands gun-sales change – The Portland Press Herald / Maine Sunday Telegram

Now, the image we get was of a Home Invasion in which her daughter, sleeping by her lonesome, was shot, had to go to the hospital and after weeks of bedridden pain, succumbed to her wounds.

Except that was not quite the whole story. The greatest lies are grown around a kernel of truth and the story of Darien Richardson as told by her mother is a prime example.

To begin with, she was not alone sleeping in her bedroom. According to an article by Duke Harrington in Keepmecurrent.com, she was sharing the bed with her boyfriend. Why is this omitted? Because the whole shooting was suspicious to begin with. The unmentioned boyfriend is one Cory Girard who was also shot but only received a grazing wound in the arm. The attackers did not break in the apartment according to the evidence, went straight to the bedroom where Richardson and Girard were sleeping while ignoring the other bedrooms where Richardson’s roommates were sleeping. Nothing was taken from the apartment. The Portland Chief of Police back then suspected that Girard was targeted probably because of drugs and he refused to identify who attacked them. Darien probably was unaware of her newly acquired boyfriend’s possible activities but nobody is sure for certain, I am inclined to think she had no dealings with that kind of crap.

Now fast-forward to 2014:

Cory Girard was taken into custody Wednesday night on a charge of possessing a firearm while being an unlawful user of a controlled substance, marijuana. The charge covers a period of several months, including the night Richardson was shot in 2010.

It is unclear whether the arrest indicates a break in the cold-case investigation of Richardson’s killing, which police believe was tied to the illicit sale of OxyContin.

Both Richardson and Girard were shot in an apartment on Rackleff Street while they were sleeping on Jan. 8, 2010. Richardson, 25, initially survived wounds to her thigh and hand, but died unexpectedly on Feb. 28, 2010, while visiting a friend in Miami, from a blood clot caused by her injuries. Girard was shot in the arm and survived.

Source: Boyfriend of Portland cold-case victim arrested on gun charge – Central Maine

Wait, What? Miami? Yes, she died in Miami visiting a friend and not wasting away as her mother craftily suggested in her op-ed. She was wounded on January 8 and dies in Miami either February 27 late or early the 28th. I’ll let you digest that piece of information on your own.

Unfortunately, the case of Darien Richardson went cold. That is something that happens and we can only hope somebody eventually comes around with information. But the story does not end here.

The gun used in Richardson’s attack was later recovered after another person was ambushed and murdered. Daudoit Butsitsi used the same pistol to kill Serge Mulongo, who was his roommate and according to thee statements collected, both individuals were having problems with each other to the point of physical contact. Butsitsi claims he “borrowed” the gun from a friend but when compelled to give the name of the person during the trial while on the witness stand, he refused and pleaded the 5th (kinda late for that an invalid.) Butsitsi was eventually found guilty and even though he appealed claiming the race card, his sentence was affirmed and is serving 38 years for the murder of Mulongo.

Now, we can assume two things: Either Butsitsi was part of the duo that attacked Richardson or obtained the gun from somebody that was the shooter or closely related the shooter. I could not find information on Butsitsi about any priors for drugs or any other crimes but obtaining a gun that already had a home invasion and murder on top of it makes me believe that it came out from the good old black market of firearms among the criminal element of the city. If so, no amount of background checks would have sufficed to solve Richardson’s murder. Everytown and Moms demand know by the Joyce Foundation report they even touted about, that criminals do not go to Gun Shows of Guns Stores to get their tools of the trade but got it from the criminals the are involved with and family of friends.

There is one more question to ask and that would be addressed to Judi Richardson, mother of Darien: I believe that Darien was the innocent party that night and I think most people would agree with me, so: Why the lies and the obfuscations? Why “embellish” her death when the simple and plain truth would have been more powerful? Is it standard procedure for Moms Demand to bleach out parts that may appear unappealing to the masses they consider stupid? And for the support of universal background checks that would have not been a factor in solving Darien’s case?

I am sorry. I hate to sound brutal but Mrs. Richardson’s op-ed looks like pimping the memory of her daughter for a political non-solution to the violence visited upon her by others.

I hope that the killers of her daughter are captured and put to trial. And I also hope to find out that she aligned herself with Moms Demand because she was misguided in her pain by unscrupulous vultures trying to cash on another corpse.