Star Jones Seeks Justice for Slain Mother of Three

by Evan Seymour of Moi Naturale

Rosaline (Rhonda) Lee pulled out of her driveway on May 25, her family never imagined it was the last time they would see her alive. Lee had left her family home at approximately 3:00 in order to get something from the store for one of her children. That’s when her trouble began.

Lee, a resident of the Detroit suburb of Pontiac, MI, was found dead, her body half naked, floating in a Michigan lake. The discovery was made shortly after a man found her abandoned van on the morning of May 26, the day after she went missing.

According to Pontiac police, Lee had been strangled by hand, and it appears she was also sexually assaulted.

Lawyer, journalist, and former “The View” host Star Jones became involved in the case because the woman’s sister, Richelle Ransom, is one of Jones’ closest friends.

Jones spoke to the New York Daily News:

“I can’t get my friend’s sister back, but I can use this platform and I plan to use it loudly.”

“It helps combat the feeling of helplessness,” she said. “I want to scream and cry.”

Jones reached out to Nancy Grace, her former coworker at CourtTV, to ask Grace to help her spread awareness about Rosaline Lee’s murder. Grace is going to feature the story on her self-titled HLN show on Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, and appeared on CNN to discuss the case.

Roland Martin is also covering the story. Martin addressed

It’s really one of the main reasons why I went as viral as I could with this information. Rosaline, Rhonda to her family, leaves behind three children, a nine-month-old, a six-year-old, and a 12-year-old…

When there’s a tragic death of an African-American woman, there’s not the sense of urgency that you see with other deaths and I don’t bite my tongue when it comes to this.

Jones first reached out to the public about the case via Twitter on Saturday, and has encouraged anyone with information about the crime to come forward.

Click here to read an article the BBC article Cleavland Abductions: Do White Victims Get More Attention? posted last month.