Every night I read the paper, cover to cover. Going through the public arrests and such, I came across a name that is always going to cause pain and anger for me.
A certain individual was arrested for driving under the influence; this time, the influence of alcohol. Several years ago he was stopped, as a teenager, for speeding excessively and ticketed. A short time later, he was involved in an accident wherein a young girl, my daughter, lost her life. This individual was under the influence at that time, but it was unable to be proven before the grand jury, despite the witness statements of both of the other passengers in the car, because of a failure to obtain any sort of breath, blood or urine sample by both the officers at the scene, as well as hospital personnel. It was later explained to my family that he just "slipped through the cracks" and because of that mistake, he got off scott free.
A few years after that, he caused another accident that resulted in serious injuries for the passengers in his vehicle, although to a less-severe degree. I do not know what punishment he received for that incident.
What upset me the most about reading about this incident in the paper is that it defined him as being picked up for drunk driving, but nowhere did it state that he was driving without a license. To me, this indicates that this irreversibly irresponsible individual still has one! How is this possible? Who is he related to, or what pull does he or his family have within the justice system that allows him to still drive legally after all the pain and destruction he has caused while behind the wheel?
It is my hope that someone of authority notices this grave injustice and does something to make sure this individual is not allowed legally behind the wheel again. Someone needs to stand up for the rights of everyone else on the road and work to ensure that no other family suffers through the pain and unending grief of losing a child. This individual obviously does not care about those he endangers; to him the lives of his passengers and fellow commuters are expendable. And why shouldn't he think that when he has never been made to pay for the crimes he has committed?
Instead, myself and my family pay for his mistakes every time we visit that sweet, forever 16-year-old girl in the cemetery. This is not some blood-thirsty request for vengeance, because my family and I believe that God will exact whatever measure of revenge He sees fit on this individual's day of reckoning. This is a simple plea to ensure that none of you ever cross our path at Oakwood Cemetery visiting your loved one lost too soon.
