When Gov. Pat Quinn signed a law abolishing the death penalty Wednesday, he commuted the sentences of everyone on death row to life in prison, including Anthony Mertz, who was awaiting execution for murdering, raping and mutilating Eastern student Shannon McNamara in 2001.

Kaitlin Van Scooter, the president of McNamara’s former sorority, Alpha Phi, is “in utter shock.”

Van Scooter is too young to have known McNamara, but the sorority still remembers and honors McNamara and considers it part of their identity. Van Scooter took Quinn’s decision personally.

“I was really upset when I heard the news,” she said. “I was up all night. So I decided to send (Shannon’s parents) a letter. I realized, ‘this means more to me than anything.’ It’s funny because, yeah I didn’t know her, but just the fact that she was a sister, it means so much to me to be there for the family. My chapter honors her and remembers her. As a sister, this is my duty, it’s what I need to do.”

Van Scooter was surprised that Quinn signed the bill. She thought he would never let a man like Mertz off death row.

“At first when I heard they were thinking about it, I was like, ‘no it’ll be fine. He’s not gonna pass it,'” she said. “But now that he has given Mertz life in prison, I just don’t agree with it. I’m still trying to process it all. For someone who does something like that, he should get the same in return. He made someone suffer, a poor, innocent girl. He shouldn’t be allowed to live.”

Van Scooter also said she sees the other side of the argument.

“Then again,” she continued, “I understand that there were innocent people also on death row, and that’s a different story and understandable.

But you just have to look at the situation. My (sorority) sister was brutally murdered, mutilated and raped. To know that he gets to walk around, justice has not been served.”

Van Scooter said while the sorority may not have been able to change the governor’s mind, they should have done more to stand with Shannon McNamara’s family.

“Our sorority is huge,” she said. “We have a lot of Illinois chapters. We probably could have made a better impact. We could have done something to help the McNamara’s, even just giving them support. I wish I would have been more aware. I feel bad. Seeing that Shannon’s parents were trying to stop the bill, I wish that we had tried to make more of an impact.”

However, the sorority does sponsor two events every year to honor McNamara.

“We do the 4k run/walk for Shannon in April. Every year Erin Weed, the chapter president when Shannon was in the house, comes and tells Shannon’s story and teaches girls how to fight back.”

Dave Balson can be reached at 581-2812 dsbalson@eiu.edu.