BALTIMORE — Nearly three years after her mother was murdered in the mass shooting at the Capital Gazette, Wendi Winters' daughter Winters Larca is ready to see justice served.
"The trial is long overdue," said Larca. "Justice is a slow process."
Delayed by the pandemic, jury selection begins Wednesday in the trial of 41-year-old Jarrod Ramos, the man who pleaded guilty but not criminally responsible by reason on insanity to murdering five Capital Gazette employees, Gerald Fischman, Rob Hiaasen, John McNamara, Rebecca Smith and Wendi Winters at work on June 28, 2018.
A forensic psychiatrist with the state health department declared him sane but it's up to the jury.
Since her mom was killed, Larca has graduated college, gotten married and had a baby boy.
"That's just a big void in my life. And it's been hard for all of us," said Larca. "My son has been deprived to something before he even is aware that it's existed."
Larca remembers her mother's love of storytelling - and how she enjoyed retelling her favorite stories over and over again.
"I think it's forgotten, how much of the bigger issue of this is," said Larca. "It's an issue of First Amendment rights that these people were targeted for, being members of the Free Press and for exercising that right."
She is also worried the tragedy will be forgotten.
"The sad thing is that there's been so many mass shootings in this country that all but the biggest tend to get forgotten. They get lost in the shuffle," said Larca.
Since the Capital Gazette shooting, there have been 54 mass shootings in the state of Maryland, according to data from the Gun Violence Archive. You can find those shootings mapped below:
The Anne Arundel State's Attorney's Office expects jury selection to last through Friday.
The trial is expected to begin June 29th and go through mid-July.
Larca said she won't be attending.
"I don't really see much point in giving the defendant any of my time," she says.
