This week marked two important arrests in local murder cases.

The first arrest was the one of Frank Mike Jr.

Mike was arrested in connection with the mysterious case of the disappearance and homicides of Reserve married couple Kenneth and Lakeitha Joseph. Although Mike has only been charged in connection with transporting the van the Josephs were known to be driving, investigating authorities are making strong statements about numerous arrests to follow in the case.

The second important arrest this week was that of a 16-year-old juvenile who was taken into custody for involvement in the murder of Calvin Edmond, the 17-year-old teenager who was shot in the head in the Cambridge subdivision earlier this week.

Both of these arrests are sure to stir mixed emotions from the community and the families involved in these tragedies.

Although the discovery of the Joseph’s bodies last month in a New Orleans waterway was not the hoped-for safe return home, hopefully the first arrest will begin to bring feelings of justice for the families involved. In the end, hopefully those feelings of justice will be capped off by the prosecution of all of the individuals involved in the murders.

And although the arrests of the teenager in the Edmond murder doesn’t bring back their son, hopefully the Edmond family can find some relief in knowing that swift justice was handled in the case.

Murder never makes sense. Although the full story may never be known regarding why these three people died, one thing is sure – they didn’t have to.

Hopefully, and very soon, all parties involved in these cases will be sentenced in a way that the families of the deceased and the entire community can rest at least in knowing that the guilty won’t be able to inflict such pain on anyone else.