It’s been three months since Vinnie and Melissa Murphy awoke to their children’s screams amid a brutal attack for which their older brother stands accused, but it’s evident from the pain lingering in their faces and voices that time has delivered little clarity or healing.
It’s not uncommon for the Murphys to toggle between anger, confusion, grief and unconditional love within the same unbroken sentence, a stream of consciousness reflective of the internal struggle they live day by day. On Oct. 17, 2017, they lost their two youngest children Noah, 7, and Sophia, 5, in a senseless killing still too tragic to comprehend. They also effectively lost a third child, oldest son Malik Murphy, who faces two counts of first-degree murder.
“We’re still in a state of shock,” Melissa said Thursday in an interview at the family’s new home. “To do something like this is pretty horrendous, so we’re still coming to terms with it privately ourselves, still walking with Christ, understanding how this happened and then what our relationship looks like with each other, with our two children we have at home, and with Malik, if there is to be one with Malik.
“What does that look like? We don’t know.”
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