Mother Found Guilty of Murder
Last week, I walked out of the house to get the morning paper, and as I opened it; my eyes went directly to a picture of a mother sobbing and holding her head in her hands. As I looked closer at the picture, I could see that around her wrists were handcuffs.
The picture was taken in a courtroom in Summit County, Ohio. Mom had just been found guilty in the death of her 17-month little boy. Her son, Patrick, had died from methamphetamine poisoning. At the time of his death, his mother and her boyfriend were out buying cigarettes at a convenience store. Mom had left Patrick in a rat-infested apartment that she, her boyfriend, and a couple others used to cook up meth to sell.
One of the other men living in the meth house called police, when he came up from the basement, and found the little boy unresponsive. Patrick was rushed to the hospital, and was pronounced dead a few hours later.
Mom was found guilty of one count of murder, two counts of involuntary manslaughter, and three counts of child endangering. She was found guilty by a jury of six men and six women in less than three hours. She faces a minimum of 15 years in prison.
Little Patrick, at the time of his death, was covered from head to toe in bruises and burn marks.
I had been following along in the newspapers for the past several months as this story unfolded. What I hadn’t realized was that judgment had come so quickly. It just seems that, once you read about some tragic event, the courtroom drama seems like years in the making. I hadn’t been prepared to see Patrick’s mom in the paper so soon.
I felt a great deal of sympathy for mom as I stared down at her picture. I was sure that, maybe for the first time in a very long time…through the lens of sobriety, she was seeing the death and destruction she was responsible for. I am sure that, without the fog of drugs, her new reality would be something none of us would ever wish to visit.
I know through the courts, we sit in judgment of each other; but most of us know that a higher judgment awaits us as well. As I looked at mom, it was this judgment I felt most afraid for her.
I view children as a gift from God. As parents, we are simply entrusted to watch over His creation. As a mere mortal; other than the Ten Commandments, I have no idea of the ranking of what is most offensive to God…but I think causing harm and death to one of His most precious children ranks right up there.
How we treat those who are dependent upon us for their care, is the truest test of your humanity.
Our son David, whom we adopted from Brazil when he was an infant, had been covered in cigarette burn marks on his torso when we picked him up at the orphanage. As I read about little Patrick and the burns and bruises on his little body, I thought of my own son and the horrors he escaped from. I just wish it had been in God’s plan to let little Patrick escape too.
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