RICHMOND, Calif. — A man said he hadn’t seen the satellite image of his son’s 2009 homicide on Google Maps until recently, but when he did, he felt as if the crime happened yesterday. Jose Barrera told Bay Area TV station KTVU that in light of the discovery, he is asking the company to change the image out of respect for his son.
Barrera’s son, Kevin, was 14 when he was fatally shot in 2009 near the area of 1100 Hensley Street in Richmond. His killer has still not been found, and it makes the sight of the image unbearable for Barrera.
“What’s the point? To show those pictures to a person, pictures of my dead son. This is really painful for the whole family,” Barrera told KTVU.
It appears that his pleas may be successful. In an update to the video report from KTVU, the station reports that the Google Maps Vice President Brian McClendon stated in an e-mail that the company is working to make an exception for this case.
“Our hearts go out to the family of this young boy. Google has never accelerated the replacement of updated satellite imagery from our maps before, but given the circumstances we wanted to make an exception in this case,” McClendon’s statement read.
He also said he believes the company can replace the image within eight days.
