I understand yesterday afternoon was the pinnacle of the NFL football season, but I must say I was disappointed. The game was fine (and yes, even as a non-football fan, I recognized some great plays), but what irked me was the fact that a 40-year-old Rocky Mount man lost his life, but all anyone seemed to talk about was the Super Bowl.

Christopher Lorenzo Curtis was attending a function at the American Legion with a friend when he was shot outside of the building at 401 Madison St. He was taken to Nash General Hospital but succumbed to his injuries around 3:20 a.m.

I spent the majority of Sunday morning tracking down Curtis' family and getting a glimpse into the man they knew — the father of three who served in the Army for four years and was a hard-working mechanic for Ryder. 

They let me scan the picture above and share the story of their loved one with our audiences. I can only hope sharing their story leads someone who knows something about his death to come forward and help police bring justice to this family.

What gets me though is the fact that other area media organizations did not reach out to the family or try to learn more about this poor man's death. The broadcast stations either ran the police release on their site or slightly rephrased some of the information and posted that.

It irks me that these other media sites seem to feel like this man's life did not warrant more of their time. The one station who did contact us to try to see where we got the photo turned out not to have the time on their 6 p.m. newscast (it was shortened due to coverage of a golf tournament) to run anything about his death.

I understand that publicizing his death will not bring him back, but he and his family deserve the best we can do and if a few hours of my time helps the police find his killer, than I think that is the least I (and we as journalists) can do.

What do you think would help people come forward to share what they know about the shooting with police? Do you think highlighting who he was makes people see him as more than just a name and gives them incentive to come forward?