Aurora family speaks out as they mourn the death of a loved one arrested He is suspected of walking onto the school grounds and attempting to kidnap a child.
“It's been really hard on the family,” Sarah Galligan said.
Sarah is the foster sister of 33-year-old Solomon Galligan, who walked to the playground during recess for students at Black Forest Hills Elementary School and tried to take the child with her.
Although Solomon claims to be female, his family has chosen to use he/him pronouns to tell his story because he has been in the process of transitioning for several years.
“We love him to death but we can't help him as much as he needs help. It's really difficult and the people who can help him aren't helping.” “Hmm,” Sarah said.
Photos of young Solomon shared by his family depict a cheerful and loving child.
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“My mother is biologically one of three [siblings]”She welcomed 10 adopted siblings into her family when she was 16 years old, and Solomon was the youngest. He's five years older than me,” said Amanda Morris, Solomon's niece. I mean, he was still pretty young growing up, but as you can see from some of the photos, we were great friends. ”
However, Solomon's family soon noticed that his mental state was deteriorating. It started with him being diagnosed with ADD and ADHD as a child and placed in a special needs program. Later, as a young man, Solomon was diagnosed with bipolar disorder and schizophrenia. All of this also happened while Solomon was beginning the process of transition.
“Like with schizophrenia or bipolar disorder, he can't make decisions for himself. He has voices and things that make those choices for him, but as a result he… You’re going to be off your medication,” Morris said. “As he grew older, Pueblo State Mental Hospital [was] Unfortunately, it's like his home. ”
Both families said they tried everything they could over the years to help Solomon get better at home.
“As a result, he doesn't want to leave the house all the time, he steals things, he doesn't want to take his medication, and it gets to the point where it's really hard to watch,” Sarah said.
Solomon instead became trapped in a cycle of the prison system, committing felonies such as assault and ultimately being incarcerated. However, according to his family, continued to be released Because there is a lack of mental health resources.
aurora police
“He does things he shouldn't do, gets arrested, goes to jail, gets caught in the process of being found incompetent to stand trial. It's like a program to make sure he's doing something,' so he's eligible to stand trial,” Morris said.
Morris said the last time she saw Solomon in person was before the pandemic. Meanwhile, Sarah met Solomon in March after she was recently released from prison, she said.
“I hadn't seen him since then until I heard what happened,” Sarah said.
They are shocked to learn of Solomon's appearance after he is detained for trespassing on the school grounds.
“If you look at the photos, he hardly looks human. He certainly looks zombie-like in the portrait,” Morris said. “I was like, 'Oh my God, he's in serious trouble.'
Solomon has never been to this area, so we don't know how he got that far south into the Aurora community. They also say they don't know why Solomon walked into the school.
“That was a big surprise to me because he had never had any trouble with kids,” Sarah said.
“There's no excuse for him being there and doing what he did.” [parents] “I definitely have a right to be angry,” Morris said. “If I were a child on the playground, or I was the parent of a child on the playground, I would be scared and affected by what happened on the playground.” Ta.
Solomon's family believes what happened at Black Forest Hills Elementary School could have been avoided, and has fought lawyers to keep him in a state hospital or psychiatric facility for an extended period of time. Stated.
“What does it take for you all to understand that he can't be alone?” Sarah said.
“There's not enough room, there's not enough beds for someone like him. There should be more,” Morris said.
His family says they are now relieved that Solomon is back in prison.
“Because, number one, he can't harm anyone else, and number two, we know where he is,” Morris said.
But in the long term, they say the system needs to change to ensure serious offenders like Solomon get support when they need it.
“Let's put him in a psychiatric hospital, put him on medication and watch him,” Sarah said. “I don’t want other people to be harmed just because they can’t take care of themselves.”
