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5-year-old shot in head @ 24th and M Streets
08/13/2008 7:44 AM by John M
A 5-year-old girl was accidentally shot in the head by a 10-year-old boy inside a home at 24th and M Streets just after 11PM last night. Judy Wright, the boy’s mother and the owner of the gun, was at work when the shooting took place and has been charged with felony child neglect. The 10-year-old and a 2-year-old also in the house were scooped up by social services. [via]
Who leaves 3 children 10 years of age and under at home while they go to work? People like this have no business having children! I hope the little girl recovers and the mother goes to jail.
I saw this mentioned at the top of NBC12’s broadcast but wasn’t up late enough to get the details. This situation is so sad. And it’s because of situations like this that we have to continue to care for the families in our neighborhood. I know what it’s like to have two working parents away from home as a child…being left alone to take care of myself. What do you do when you can’t afford childcare and can’t afford to miss work? Now as a parent, I know how hard it is to raise a child. I’m sure life for Ms. Wright isn’t easy with three children. But she made a bad choice leaving them home alone. She may have thought she had no other option – and it’s for that reason we should serve our community. We provide options for people so that we can avoid tragedies like this.
I went running this morning and saw the Channel 6 news crew on the corner of 24th and M. I honestly thought it was a weather report. When the reporter told me why he was there I couldn’t believe it AND I was ashamed that I didn’t know a five year old lived on that block.
Todd is absolutely right that we should be reaching out to our neighbors and helping them to avoid situations like this. Yes, Ms. Wright failed in her obligations, but so have we.
Matt, I agree with both you and Todd in point, however, how have we failed here? Did Ms. Wright reach out to anyone for help? How was anyone to know that she would leave children of that age at home alone while at work? Maybe I’m being simple minded here but I feel taking care of your child (if you have them) is the primary responsibility of parent ship. Yes, perhaps going to work to earn money to take care of said children is also important but the child’s safety is paramount. Children of this age are simply not safe at home (in Church Hill no less) alone at 11pm.
You being as involved in the community as you are were not even aware that a 5 year old lived there. How are others who may not be as involved to know? I guess my point is this is the fault of Ms. Wright…not you, not Tadd, not me, not anyone other than Ms. Wright. She made a bad choice and it could possibly cost this child her life.
Yes, I agree wholeheartedly that it would be wonderful had someone known in advance of Ms. Wright’s need for childcare and been able to assist and possible help avoid this tragedy. I suspect, however, that this sort of thing goes on a hell of a lot more often than we may think…
At this time I just want to pray as a community for the child that was hurt and that the mother learns from this experience, Hopefully her family will not be torn apart as a result of this terrible mistake.Riht now I don’t want judge this mother because I don’t know the situation that made her keep a gun in her house.True, she should of had it locked up to prevent this, but its a harh lesson learned.My prayers are with the family.
When I was in 3rd grade, as the older child I got ‘babysitting’ duty after school each day until my mother got home from work. just as she took care of her younger siblings when she was 10 with her parents out working. I don’t think the circumstance of parents leaving their children home while they work is so extraordinary or worthy of such judgment as above. And a gun tragedy such as this could have happened just as easily had the mother been home, and does happen with much older children, who presumably would be thought to know better. And what would you all have to say, if, for example, one child were critically hurt by falling down some stairs as a result of some innocent goofing off on the part of a couple siblings? Would you call for the mother to go to jail in that case? A accidental tragedy is an accidental tragedy. Period. Maybe the reactions above have more to do with peoples’ feelings about gun ownership. My condolences to those effected.
BTW, to maybe articulate it better, I can see concerns about gun accessability; I just wonder: does everyone now use daycare, i.e., does no one have their children watching each other anymore, and if they do, is this in and of itself deemed neglect?
It is not our place, as neighbors, to determine whether what this mother did was right or wrong. The man or woman in the black robe will do that. Those individuals are far more qualified to make these types of judgments than any of us.
Hopefully, the people in our community will all learn from this and take those actions they deem appropriate to prevent occurrences like this from happening in the future.
My gut reaction is to be horrified that children that old were left alone. Then again, I was a latch key kid when I was in the 4th grade. Someone would come home about two hours after I came home, but I was in charge of myself. We owned a gun. Several in fact. I knew that if I touched that gun, my backside would be tan. I was well educated in what guns do and what happened to flesh when it met a bullet. That lesson was all I needed to stay away. That all being said, we have to find a better way to work with families that cannot afford $500/month per child in daycare fees.
The RTD is reporting that the girl has died.
Oh my god. My heart breaks for this family. This poor woman, and her son is probably suffering terribly as well. How can we help?
More affordable day care needs to be available in this area. There are some options available, but even low-cost daycare can be too expensive if you have three children, especially if you do not have transportation.
SEW:
I cringed at your post due to its harsh judgment. Who are we to state what she should and should not have done? There are plenty examples of 10 year olds being latch key kids and watching after their siblings no less. When a single mom barely has enough money to afford daycare for 1 kid, how is she to afford it for 3? Not to mention hardly any after hours daycare services are available in the area.
I disagree with your harsh judgment and feel we need to know the facts before presuming the worst.
Given I am a single mom myself and have been since my son was 6 months old, I know how hard and stressful it can be but thankfully I’ve had a lot of help over the years (and about to have tons more thanks to the friends I have made in this community over the years).
It really disheartens me to see such vehemence when a 5 year old girl died by accident, one that could have happened anytime anywhere else to some other family.
Just a quick note: When my son was an infant and needed all day care, it cost me $150 a week and that was cheap! That’s $600 a month just to have someone watch him then add diapers, formula, clothes, food, etc., for a baby then 2 older siblings and costs get out of control fast.
what a horrible event. there is really just not much else to say.
No one knows the situation of this mother. The key word is Work! She was at work. Things happen. I am not saying that this mother doesn’t need to evaluate somethings, but we don’t know her story. But I guess in todays society and in America, who would even give a dame!I remember hearing the story of the mother who’s child fell out of the window and died(I THINK Chesterfield). What anyone say about that? Or maybe because she lives in the suburbs, it was an accident and everyone feels sorry for her. But what about this woman. The lady was working to provide for her family, if she would have told someone her situation, then she would be accused of looking for handouts…. A lot of debates can go back in forth about this situation, the only thing that I ask is evaluate your self, then ask your self how you can pray for this person and reach out to them, if you do not want to do this, than shut up! I believe everything you get in live you must work for it and when you see someone trying, help them out! No one is promised tomorrow and because your rich today does not mean you can’t be poor tomorrow. Get a grip, people kill me when they sit high and mighty on a chariot and look down on others. I have a degree, believe in working hard but I know that my time here on earth is borrowed just like everyone else.
My condolences to the family…
How quick we are to judge; let’s try to learn all the facts of the case first. There could be variables we don’t know about. To condemn based off an initial media report is wrong. What if the mother was working two jobs to provide for her family, would you still say “People like this have no business having children”?
There are so many questions about this situation that we can’t answer. I don’t think any of us that have written know Ms. Wright or her family. BUT, what we do know is that this is a tragedy. The life of this family will never be same. And, by so many different means, this was preventable. Dominique did not have to be killed by her 10 year uncle. This is another sad day in the life of our community. But, I still have hope because there are so many of us trying to help and make a difference.
If anyone knows of children that are too young to be left alone report it to an organization (SCAN) or social services. Sometimes it just takes something simple like parenting lessons to make mom and dad aware of bad habits they are practicing that could lead to a tragedy.
If only one of us neighbors had reported the situation it could have saved a child. Believe it or not, social services does not want to criminalize parents or split families up. We say we are uncomfortable reporting these situations but if only someone had…
Just a question:
The Family Resource Center is pretty much next door to this family’s residence. What kind of services does the center provide?
There’s an article in today’s New York Times about children being left alone in case anyone is interested. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/08/14/nyregion/14alone.html
If I recall correctly, VA doesn’t have a legal age limit for children to be left alone in their home. Which makes for an interesting discussion I think.
UMMA MIISS MII GRANDMA,MII UNCLE AND MII LIIL CUZN DOMINIQUE
Eric Clapton’s son was tragically killed by falling out a window. Remember that? So sad. And he could have afforded a babysitter many times over. It’s true that we should be doing our best to prevent accidents, but they do happen. I am happy to see the degree of sympathy expressed here.
I also agree that it depends on the kid. My son was ready when he was about 10 or so. But we have very protective dogs, as well as an alarm system. And he has always been quite a bit smarter than most grown-ups I know, too – especially me. Recently I considered getting rid of the land line, and his ability to phone out if he was by himself was a big consideration. I decided against it.
And from the article in the Times:
*But the other day, Sarah and her brother, who is 15, had their first mini-crisis when the new dog had diarrhea in the house.
“We really didn’t know what to do about it, and we couldn’t get in touch with our parents,†she said, adding that they eventually covered the mess with paper towels, shut the door, and left it until the grown-ups got home.*
Whaaaaaaaa? Clean the mess up is what you do! 15 years old, and they didn’t know what to do about it? Please try again! I’d be getting them a crotchety old babysitter next time if I came home to that. And they might just be too young to log onto the internet or get their driving permit.
That parent was playyyyyyyed hard!
What a tragic loss. However, I agree with the few posters who have expressed concerns about the gun and its availability. The gun was what killed this child…not being at home alone.
Can’t help but notice that the City is hard at work this morning fixing the crumbling sidewalk on that block. I hope this was a previously scheduled but much over due repair.
# 24: “The gun was what killed this child…not being at home alone.”
So the gun should be arrested?
What led to this terrible occurrence was the confluence of really bad ideas: keeping an unsecured gun in the house, leaving a ten-year-old in charge of younger children, among others.
I was at Que Pasa at the time on Tuesday night when about 5 cop cars drove up… I thought it was a drug bust because they barged in and pulled everyone out of the house… Including adults… these kids were being watched when their mother was gone… if you ask me, it should be the people in the house at the time who get the charge. But my heart goes out to the little girl… RIP sweetheart.
So Evan, what kind of house is this? (single or multiple family?) It seems obvious that there was no adult supervision, otherwise a 10-yr old wouldn’t have been handling a gun…
Also, I’m torn b/t thinking it’s just plain messed up to leave your kids in a house w/ a gun (that it’s the mother’s fault), and the fact that maybe she just thought leaving her 10 yr-old was fine to look after the others…
If you have guns, you should at least make sure they aren’t accessible by your children. (I think you shouldn’t even have handguns period, I’m guessing this was used, but the type is irrelevant here).
Also, as a woman, I don’t feel particularly safe alone in the evenings at a house four blocks away. Although I have no kids, I would probably think, “Hey, I don’t feel right by myself here at 11, why would a kid?” I don’t consider myself paranoid either even after staying in horrible conditions in Brookland Park w/out flinching. However, I guess that is wearing off…
I do understand the mother had to go work, but I agree w/ someone’s earlier comment about how your kids’ safety should come first…
Also, if you have multiple kids, but can’t afford basic needs for them, perhaps you should’ve reconsidered having all of them.
(I just want to both point out that the person commenting above is *not* Laura Daab, and to maybe encourage the new Laura to use a last initial or something.)
I think I am the most worried about the boy. What a burden for this child to carry the rest of his life. A whole family wrenched apart in the space of a few seconds! They give out gun locks for free at the police station – if you have a gun and children, you must take the time to use these, because it only takes a moment to change your life forever.
I suppose I have to add an initial to avoid confusion. I also want to add I dislike that roof, too. Not to be a smart ass.
We had guns in the house when I was a child and they were discussed. My father taught me how to hold it so I didnt accidently pull the trigger or shoot someone if I did. He showed me all about it when he cleaned it and he took me with him to target practice. When I was old enough, I learned how to use it. He hunted so I saw what it could do. My advice, if you are going to have guns in the house, locking them up is a good idea but kids are curious and clever, they will get to it if they want to. Some people have guns for protection and feel they have to be “ready for action” in an emergency. If your going to have a gun in your house, discuss it at length with your children. If you dont hunt go somewhere and shoot a Perdue Roaster so your children can see what happens. I really think my knowledge staved off the curiosity and gave me some reverence. I am so sorry for the family. I think Mom worked the night shift and felt it would be okay to let the kids sleep through her absence. The 10 year old was responsible enough to go next door for help after the accident… TV and video games give kids the wrong impression about guns, it is so sad.
It saddens me that we as human being think all people are bad because of the mistakes a person makes in their life. Do you ever sit at home and wish that you never made the choices that you have made in life? Or even wish that you can go back and change things to make your life better? Have you ever made a mistake big or small? Have you ever wish that you never married the man that beats on you or molest your kids? Do you ever wish that your parents were not alcoholics and smoked cigarrettes so it would have not rubbed off on you to make you want to drink and smoke your problems away? Do you ever think how a person may have been raised or how they were groomed to be what they are today? Do you ever say to yourself and i quote” I should have, could have, would have but didnt?”
We all have done things that we wish we did not but we keep it locked away in pandoras box and wish no one ever finds out. If someone does find out, then what? How would you feel your little secret is out and across CHPN.net? You would feel like Judy Wright does. We cannot change what happened and what price the devil sacrificed taking the life of another angel that could’ve changed the world. Look around we all shut ourselves from your fellow neighbor. We do not get to know them or what issues they go through that we can say maybe i can give you some advice on what you need to do or even give their number to someone with the education or background to help. We all have made mistakes in putting ourselves in situations even GOD do not have an answer for you. Let think for a second and see how we all are alike in same way but different.
Scenario #1. I married this wonderful man that I grew up with and we had 3 wonderful children. We have been together for 10 years and he says he love me. Then guess what! I found out he was messing around on me for 5 of those years. Do I stay or do i leave? You choose to stay and try all that you can do to please your husband to make him love you and neglect the kids. The kids grow up to hate you because you never showed them love and their daddy was just to busy to be their runny behind your old school mate! Finally he leaves you with 3 kids for your old school mate. What do you do?
You have degrees that you never applied because you figured you will marry the man of your dreams and have kids and then he left you. You have friends that you did not keep in contact with. Your family lives in a different part of town. People will say they will help you and when you ask they always have something to do. He seeks a divorce due to unreconcilable differences or he was just tired of you and wanted to move on. He sends you 600.00 a month for child support and still you do not work and have to find you a job.
You land a job and have to work rotating shifts. You ask can he help you to watch the kids and he says only on the weekend when he is off. So what do you do. The kids are at the age that they can be alone. You think they are responsible. and you leave the eldest of them all in charge you lay the rules down for them to follow while you are gone. You have been doing this and you are now back on track with your life providing for the kids and maintaining your home life. Then one day you get a call and the person on the other end says “This is your next door neighbor Alice (now mind you, you lived in your house and only see Alice when she is going to work do not talk to Alice but Alice calls you at work) and she says one of your kids are injured real bad.
You rush home to find out the baby child fell off the playset while playing with her middle sibling and broke her neck. Do you fault Alice for not being home? Do you fault the eldest child who should have been watching the other two? I guess you say Alice because she should have been home with the kids collecting welfare to monitor her own kids and to raise them and maybe, I said maybe this would have not happened? But if we go back and change somethings and put Alice at home is she still in fault?
Scenario #2 Susie was a good hardworking mother. No one on here knows her. I do not know her. She worked 2 jobs to provide for her family. Susie is a single woman with kids and once had an abusive man who came and harassed her from time to time and occasionally beats her. So Susie goes out and buys a gun to have for protection. Susie talks and teaches her kids right from wrong. Susie answers all their question whether they are negative or positive. Susie also gives a rationale for if you do this and this will be the outcome. Susie goes about her days normally like she does struggling alone and not asking for help because she was raised you made your bed hard you have to lay in it and choose not to ask for help.
Things begins to get hard the job she works required you to work forced overtime. Susie do not know what she is going to do. But she knows she have to provide for her family. Susie takes in her Niece and her kids. Now mind you Susie has 2kids and their ages are 14 and 11. Her niece kids are 7 and 5. Her niece works. They have it all down pack that they both will work to pay the bills and take care of the kids. Everything is going good. Five years of this goes by, and one day the unevidable happens. They both get a call at work from the 14 year old who ran to the neighbors house for help.
The 11 year old was playing with a knife as if they were sword fighting and makes a mistake and stabbed the 7 year old in the jugular and he bleed to death. They both rush home. Do you blame Susie or the niece? Or do you blame both? What if they both could not provide to help each other so what do they do?
I guess it is hard to say who is at fault unless you are in those people shoes we can only judge from the outside. It is times that I reach out to my fellow neighbor of different origin but a person is only going to let you in if they want to.
People figure they have all the answers. People feels as if because you are poor you are bad for getting pregnant and having kids. It is rich people out here who deny and disown their own kids because of their wrong doings. We are quick to point fingers and lock people up. But think about one day you make a mistake that may cause a person their life do you want people to say you should be locked up and who will take care of your kids. No! So sometimes be careful what you ask for.
One day you can be sent home from work with a bad headache and blank out and run over my grandma and kill her by mistake. What will you want me to say? How would you want me to react? You can be going to work like you normally do but get alittle behind and the light turn yellow and you begins to approach the intersection and it turns red and you speed through and crash into a car. You seen the car before but cannot recognize anything because of your head hitting the steering wheel. You Both are rushed to the hospital and they bandage you up but next door still working on the person you hit. Doctors, Nurses, and their Family running back and forth. The person Dies. You asked a nurse what happened and she says the patient died. You feel bad and see a familiar face. John your next door neighbor you play golf with is crying. You ask him what happened? He says my wife was in a car accident this morning someone ran the light and hit her and now she is dead. What will you say and what will you think people will say about you. How would your subdivision feel you killed John’s wife because you were trying to get to work on time. I know right, THINGS HAPPENS FOR A REASON. Lessons are to be learned from theres and taught to those who are unfortunate. I am greatly sorry for happened to you and your family Judy and your family and you will be in my prayers.
According to the RTD, a relative was supposed to be watching the children after Wright (boy’s mother) went to work, but that person never came. Also, supposedly Wright hadn’t unpacked her boxes (moved this week), which contained her gun. The 5 yr-old’s mother worked a night shift ’til 3 a.m. This is just what RTD reported.
On another note, I was surprised that Wright is just 41, and the boy is an uncle at 10. It took me a while to figure out how that could be. The mother must be pretty young.
So where are these kids fathers? There are 2 missing men whose non-presence has certainly had some effect on this situation.
I find it interesting that quiet a few folks have “bashed” my previous post for being overly judgmental. The fact of the matter here is that if the mother did nothing wrong why was she charged with felony child neglect? Why were the children removed from her care? Obviously, the police just don’t go around charging people with felony neglect and taking people’s children from them. There is a reason for it.
Also, it is one thing to be a latch key kid that comes home at 4:00 and the parent gets home a little after 5:00. It is entirely another thing to leave children of that age at home alone all night while you’re at work. These children should not have been left at home alone at night period. Let alone with a loaded unlocked gun in the house!
As far as child care issues go, I have to agree with Laura J above when she said “Also, if you have multiple kids, but can’t afford basic needs for them, perhaps you should’ve reconsidered having all of them.â€
Do I feel bad for what happened? Of course I do but that doesn’t make it any less of the woman’s fault. There was a loaded gun in the house with children left unattended. Could this tragedy been prevented had there been an adult in the house supervising these children? Who knows? But perhaps it could have had the mother been at home…
Before you start to make judgments about this situation, please take the time to read the book American Dream by Jason DeParle. In his book he will help you understand the reality of poverty in America. You cannot read this book and remain indifferent to those who are being left behind. This is one of the best books I have read on social policy. This book will open your mind to the way real lives are affected by the issues that many of us only discuss in passing with our friend, family or maybe on a blogg. From child care to employment, domestic violence to drugs, hunger, and the poverty rates.
How in the world can you reconsider having children? Once birthed, they cannot be unbirthed.
Tiny,
Perhaps she could have reconsidered having more if she was not able to care of the ones she had in the first place I believe is the point that Laura J was trying to make. I’m not sure of this woman’s financial situation but if I was unable to take care of myself and the children I aready had financially, I wouldn’t think of bringing anoether child into the world.
Understand, but honestly, is every child “planned”? I am pretty sure my little brother, 13 years my junior, was “surprise”. I get your point, but now it is a little too late.
Sometimes you sit and read these blogs and wonder how a mother would unearthly give birth to a child that has no remorse or passion for others. How can you SEW say a person should not have kids? Maybe at one time your mother or father had the same feeling about you but they gave birth to you regardless of their situation! Look at the situation at hand! She had to work the night shift. You know what burns me up inside? I want everyone to think for a second and i have a question or maybe a resolution to the world for people with kids and work. OK here it goes! Do you work a job or a profession where their are people who work the dayshift and do not kids or kids are off to college and are on their own? Do you have people that are dead locked in the day-shift position and would not change their shift so a single mother can work and be home with their kids? sorry john, HELL NO! the next man or woman do not care about the other and guess what we get stuck with 3-11 and 11-7 shift where your right no child care and no one to care for our latch key kids. Maybe if you work dayshift you can watch my kids while i work the off-shift. I know this happens in every profession they are the same people who take all the vacation time so i cannot take a vacation with my kids. But remeber what SEW said I should not had my kids or be working. I wish i had the mentality to sit on my butt and not work and let other hard tax payer do everything for me and let me be a stay at home mom. You have kids that come from good homes with both parents go and shoot up a whole school or even themselves. You have some kids that come from poverty stricken homes to turn out to be lawyers, doctors, football and basketball stars. It is the luck of the straw! But everyone deserves a chance.
I like the way that the post 33 points out that not everything is as simple as it appears, and that life circumstances have a way of changing. It happens all the time that everything seems fine, and people make choices based on that present moment. Then things change. That’s life – no guarantees.
Look at all of the foreclosures happening. So many people losing their homes – people who, based on their circumstances at the time, were relying on the idea they could just refinance out of their ARMs before they adjusted. And then maybe life changed and they couldn’t get another loan at that time, after all.
Someone can be in a great position to make a family, and then have things change – people die, divorce… And even if you are loaded at the moment you conceive, it doesn’t mean you can’t fall on hard times. The point is that we just don’t know.
I think it is a shallow argument to assume, philosophically, that anyone willfully breeds into poverty.
What a coincidence! Too funny…my little brother is 13 years my junior as well…whether he was a surprise or not I’m not sure but my parents were able to care for him well.
I understand fully that additional children may not be planned but if an additional child would put such a huge burden on someone, perhaps they should be more careful when engaging in activities in which a pregnancy may result. A box of condoms is a hell of a lot cheaper than an additional child…abstinence if free too…
Concerned friend 0f 24th street you missed my point completely.
You know, I’ve worked in businesses where we had people with no children working the day shift. Is that so terribly wrong? The 8-5 shifts in the businesses I have worked before were shifts that were earned from being with tenure and/or performance. The people in those shifts earned them! The company where I work now is like that also. When hired in, one expects to work a later shift in these type jobs. So please help me to understand why someone who has been with a company sometimes years should give ups a prime shift to someone else simply because the other person has a child? What if the person in the 8-5 shift is gay and has no child? Does that make them any less deserving of an 8-5 shift? What is the 8-5er chose not to have children? I supposed they should give up a shift that was earned through tenure and excellent performance for someone who has a child. Come on, get real…There have been times when the 8-5er with children has refused to work later even when their children are away at camp, or with their father, or some other situation when the parent is not required to be home at 5pm. They refuse to help out anyone else because they have earned that shift.
If the need is so great for a day time shift, there are plenty of places around to find them. Granted, they may not be nice office jobs but when worse come to worse McD’s may have to do when you need a day shift.
And my point Concerned friend 0f 24th street is that this woman should not have left a 10yo, a 5yo, and a 2yo in the house alone at 11PM with a loaded unlocked gun in the house. If you have a job at that hour, you need to call a friend, or family member to come care for the children. Leaving a 10yo in charge is obscene…like a 10yo would know what to do in any sort of emergency…
If any of us who are truly saddened by little Dominique’s death want to honor her short life, if any of us are who are justifiably angry about the causes of her death want to turn that anger into something positive, if any of us who are simply sick and tired of the violence want to show that we will not be beaten, then we will all tell our bosses that we need a few hours off next Wednesday because there’s been a death in the family, and at noon that day at Chiles Funeral Home we will show Dominique’s family, the media, and the city that, at least in Church Hill, the geographical boundaries that for some only define a ZIP code, for us define a Community.
See you there.
It is interesting to me that so many of you comment on details of this accident that you have no way of knowing. Don’t you think it is possible that Dominique’s mother taught her kids about the gun…had it locked up…and possibly had normal arrangements for child care that fell through for this night? Kids are curious…particularly 10 year old boys. But 10 year old boys are in 5th or 6th grade…and have enough sense to know what to do when an emergency happens. 5 & 2 year olds will almost always think whatever their older siblings are doing is cool and ok. My sisters would have followed me anywhere…
And the comments on whether or not she should have kids or not. Do any of you know this mother’s story? And really…how many of us have stories where are parents were able to perfectly provide for every financial need? I would bet that most of our parents struggled at one point or another because of the crazy amount of money it costs to raise children. And parenting is hard…and when you are tired & doing it by yourself…sometimes you make choices out of necessity. Leave them alone for a night while you work…or skip work & possibly not be able to feed them or pay rent…meaning hunger and or eviction. Seriously…that is not an easy choice. I’m sure this mother did not make her choices flippantly. And now she is grieving the loss of her little girl and still trying to survive & provide for her other two children. Emotionally exhausting to say the least. And those two siblings…they will be scarred forever. It is truly tragic.
Maybe those of you commenting on her choices & parenting have never had to worry about money or had to care for children in any way. If thats not the case…you definitely put out the vibe that you are ignorant to either scenario.
I agree with Stretch that if we have the ability to…we need to show up at the funeral and let the family know (albeit late) that there is a community that cares & can be there for them.
PLEASE BE CAREFULL ABOUT WHAT U SAY.THE GRANDMA WAS THERE WITH THE CHILDREN.U DONT KNOW JUDY OR SHARIFA SO PLEASE,KEEP THE JUDGING TO YOURSELF.OUR THING IS DEALING WITH KALEE(LITTLE 10YR. OLD)WHAT ABOUT HOW SCARED HE IS WITH NO FAMILY…THANKS TO U GUYS FOR THE POSITIVE…FAMILY MEMBER….
First and foremost, it’s a terrible tragedy. That’s indisputable.
What concerns me more than anything however, is that I’d be willing to bet that there are many other homes/environments within Church Hill and the surrounding communities that have enough of the same elements in place (latchkey kids, single mothers, guns) that this could very well happen again. Frankly, I’m surprised that we don’t hear more about this sort of thing and that it’s not more commonplace.
While my heart goes out to her and the entire family, the bottom line is that she made a terrible mistake by not unpacking the gun. Even if every other box was left unpacked, no matter how little time you have, you find that gun, lock it up and put it away. It’s sad to think how avoidable this entire ordeal really was if only the woman had practiced a little more common sense.
The arguments about not being able to afford children and having multiple kids is a valid one and should be discussed in depth, however this thread isn’t the time or place. For now, lets offer our thoughts and prayers to the family.
The mother of the 5 year old girl that was killed called into the radio station and gave the real story. She was at work and didn’t get off until 3 a.m. She left her two children in the care of her mother. Her mother had to work, so her grandmother was left to care for the kids. She said her two children and her 10 year old brother were asleep before her mother left to go to work.
Her grandmother also went to sleep after the children were sleep. The 10 year old got up after he was put to bed, fumbled through the boxes or whatever and found the gun. She said she is not the type of mother that just leaves her children in the care of anybody. Whenever she leaves her children with her mother she is constantly calling to check up on them.
She said her mother had not even gotten to work before she was called back and told about the incident, so it happened right after she left. I do think in a way the media is making them out to be something that they are not. So according to the mother, the children were not left unattended while her mother went to work. They were left in the care of her grandmother.
R.I.P
THAT HURT SO BAD MAIN ITS JUST CRAZY
Hi
I have to say that it seems that Sheeka and people like her are looking and thriving on this tragic story and other stories like this. I am tired of finding that in community forums of the black community all you appear to be interested in is the negetive. It is not just the media but it is us not being a unified community and overall negative actions toward one another that keeps these stories and comments on the fore front of most black community head lines.
WHEN ARE WE GOING TO STAR TALKING ABOUT HOW TO BE BETTER AS A PEOPLE?
Richmond woman not competent for trial in neglect death of 5-year-old (RTD 11/20/08)
AFTER READING MOST OF THE STUFF PEOPLE HAVE SAID I FEEL THE NEED TO SAY THIS YOU DONT KNOW JUDY TO SAY ANYTHING ABOUT HER I LOVE HER I CONSIDER HER AS MY SECOND MOTHER SHE WAS ALWAYS THERE FOR ME WHENEVER I NEEDED HER AND THE MEDIA MAKES HER OUT TO BE SOME MONSTER YOU NEED TO TAKE THE TIME OUT TO THINK SHE LOST HER GRANDAUGHTER AND SON NOT ONE OF YALL COULD POSSIBALLY UNDERSTAND OR FEEL WHERE SHES COMMING FROM SO ALL THOSE WITH NEGATIVE THINGS TO SAY ABOUT THE WHOLE SITUATION I WILL PRAY FOR YOU BECAUSE U NEED IT