I was the pastor of Jeanne Seto, the woman who was shot and killed by police on Oct. 8 in Bath, New Hampshire. I had visited Jeanne and her newborn baby only a week before she was killed. She was so happy to be a mom. She had struggled in the past but, “I am healthy and ready this time.”
The tragic end to her life didn’t have to happen. It was a failure of us all. We have created a system that doesn’t give space for people like Jeanne. It is a system that doesn’t take mental illness, and vocational calling, seriously. Jeanne could be “difficult,” but she was that way because she was underserved. In some ways, her life was building toward this terrible moment.
It is easy in our society to blame individuals. It is easy to write Jeanne’s death off to some poor decisions she made. It is much harder for us to look in the mirror and see the way that we treat people who don’t fit the norm. It is harder to see the systems that we set up and support, which rely on punishment and incarceration instead of compassion and medical treatment. This is not to say that people are not working on this, but they are underfunded and understaffed. According to an article in the Concord Monitor, state spending was reduced by $3.1 million in 2026.
The truth about this case is that Jeanne’s family reached out for help from the police and from mental health providers, and they were turned away or not given the help that she needed. Jeanne’s family knew that she was suffering and needed help.
We failed to provide that help, because we see her only in terms that are convenient: homeless, crazy, unhinged. As a member of our congregation, we saw Jeanne in different terms: beloved, child of God, sweet, compassionate. We saw Jeanne’s potential. We saw how hard she was working to build a better life. She was fighting all the time against systems that are difficult to navigate and dehumanizing, but she kept going.
I hope that we can all see our unhoused neighbors as people who have gifts to share and love to give. I hope that we can come up with new systems that give the help people need so they don’t end up like Jeanne. Her death is tragic, but I am hoping it can also lead to something better for the next person like Jeanne.
Jonathan Hopkins is the pastor at Concordia Lutheran Church in Concord.