The Washington Post has a front page story today about a woman who apparently murdered her two-year-old son and then killed herself.

The piece ends with numerous compliments about the life and work of the alleged baby-killling murderess, but devotes not one word to a description of the little boy who apparently was killed by the one person in the world he should have been able to trust more than any other. Did little Jehan Vazirani Komunyakaa like to play with cars? Have a favorite stuffed animal or a song that made him sleepy or a dimple when he smiled?

The Post has space to tell us his alleged killer was “an accomplished lyrical storyteller,” and the summer vacation plans of the alleged killer’s landlord, but the story of little Jehan’s life rated… nothing.

The article ends with this compliment to the dead woman: “It’s just sad, you know. She was such a beautiful spirit. It’s just a loss to the world.” No. Not a loss to the world. “Beautiful spirits” do not murder babies.