by Susan Brinkmann, OCDS
Staff Writer
(May 14, 2008) A sixteen year old altar boy and devout Roman Catholic refused to be goaded into a fight in a London bakery and ended up losing his life as a result. Referred to as a “saint” by his parish priest, the boy’s parents cling to their faith rather than anger at his killer.
Jimmy Mizen, who had just turned 16 the day before, went to the local bakery on Saturday morning, May 10, with his older brother Harry to buy his first lottery ticket. An altercation of some kind broke out between Harry and another youth inside the bakery. When Jimmy tried to intervene, the youth tried to lead him outside for a fight, but Jimmy refused to go.
Detectives were told by an eye-witness that the youth was so intent on violence that he “proceeded to smash down the door of the bakery, shattering the glass,” Detective Cliff Lyons told the London Telegraph. “He also picked up an advertising board and took it inside the bakery and wielded it around. A fight ensued and Jimmy received a fatal blow to his neck, cutting his throat with some glass.”
Mizen bled to death on the floor of the bakery while lying in his brother’s arms. A suspect, believed to be of Turkish descent, has not yet been arrested.
Mizen was known to be a person of “immaculate character,” a quality he surely received from his parents, both of whom said they have no anger toward their son’s killer.
“People keep saying ‘why aren’t you angry?’ There so much anger in this world and its anger that killed my son,” said Margaret Mizen, 54. “If I am angry then I am exactly the same as this man. We have got to get rid of this anger, we have just got to.”
Speaking about the killer’s parents, she said, “What can I say to them? You can imagine, that’s their child. They held that boy in their arms as a baby. They must be in pain. It’s so painful to know that one of your children has been so cruel, so wicked.”
In spite of her own grief, Mrs. Mizen said she couldn’t get the killer’s parents out of her mind. “I don’t know why, I can’t get them out of my mind because what’s happened to Jimmy is the worst thing possible, but we’ve got such wonderful memories. They haven’t got wonderful memories for their son. All they can think about is the evil he’s done. My prayers are with the family, that’s all I can say. I can’t, I don’t feel anger.”
Instead, she and her husband Barry and their eight remaining children are focusing on Jimmy’s “legacy of love.”
“Jimmy was Jimmy,” she said. “He was very straight down the line. He was happy-go-lucky. He loved his family and playing the guitar and rugby in the garden. It was sixteen years and one day that I had him and, I have never once told him off.”
On Sunday family and friends observed a two-minute silence outside Our Lady of Lourdes church, where Jimmy had been an altar boy.
The following day, which would have been her son’s last day of school, a memorial Mass was held at St. Thomas More Catholic Comprehensive. She later told the Daily Mail that it was still difficult to believe Jimmy was really gone but their strong faith is helping them cope.
“It is our faith that keeps us going, we would never cope otherwise,” she said. “Lots of people have given us cards and flowers. God is with us and in our family.”
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God’s grace shines the brightest during the darkest moments of life. “A Grief Unveiled” is the compelling story of a man’s journey from losing a son to realizing that God’s grace really is sufficient!
