The only possible controversy is that there were several other area children who died under similar circumstances in the Portland area. To stop the counter at 1 seems strange.

Under what similar circumstances?

Murdered by their parent.

In what time frame? If the answer something other than "in the past month (or three)," the comment seems a touch disingenuous. All manner of dreadful things have happened here in the last century or so. Commence the anti-hoistings.

In the past week, Amanda Jo Stott-Smith by throwing her son Eldon off the Sellwood Bridge (her 7-year-old daughter survived) (5/23) and Jim Gumm shooting his six- and seven-year-old children, and them himself (5/29). Both pieces have been widely reported by the Oregonian, albeit Stott-Smith on the front page, and Gumm on the front of Metro.

Eldon is the kid the flag-lowering was about. That gives us one more incident, victims numbering two. Unfortunate, but certainly not "several".