How can I help? I ask almost daily when I speak with my aunt and cousin about the horrible tragedy that befell my family last month. I feel powerless living on the other side of the country. I wish I could be there with you. Use your words, Angie, they say. You were graced with the gift to write. Use your words to stir emotion and incite change. And you are here. You are with us every day. So I write. I write and I beg and I plead for people to wake up and take notice of whats going on around them. I push my grief to the side for hours at a time to chip away at my daily routine and to find new ears to tell our story. Im tired, Im sad, and I still feel powerless. If I cant even get some of my own friends and family even to acknowledge that my life is in complete chaos right now...to find time to write the words Im sorry...then how can I get complete strangers to feel a twinge of emotion about the utter hell that their city is becoming? Ive been accused of attempting to convict the assailant via social media and trying to conjure up some modern day mob rule. Apparently, Im disinterested in letting inconvenient things like proof or due process get in the way of trying my aunts attacker. But heres the thing: No one is attempting to conduct the trial via social media. We have complete faith that all of the horrific truths of the crime will result in a conviction. My aunt didnt rip her own insides, she didnt bind herself on the floor of her apartment, and she certainly didnt magically transport the ejaculate of a man 36 years her junior to the crime scene. No one posted anything on social media until the facts of the particularly heinous rape had been released by the police and printed in the newspaper. The proof isnt whats inconvenient here. Whats inconvenient is Jamie Boyds complete lack of compassion for victims of violent crimes and his unwillingness to protect his constituents by keeping violent criminals off the street. This four-time convicted felon should never have been out of jail to be able to commit this crime. No one is interested in mob rule. What we want to do is raise awareness of an issue that does not get enough attention. If Im not mistaken, less than 20% of registered voters showed up at the last local election. Is it because they do not know the impact of Jamie Boyds earnestness to inflate his conviction rate by striking numerous plea bargains, or is it simply because they do not care? For those of you who have shared our story and/or donated to the relief fund (gofundme/cheryl-wells), thank you. From the bottom of our hearts, thank you. Total donations exceed $7,900 at this point, and your generosity and compassion is overwhelming. Many of you have also reached out to asking to donate services to aid in repairing my grandmothers home. We are not ignoring you, and we certainly are grateful; just understand that we are still processing grief, trying to return to a sense of normalcy, and settling into new routines. We appreciate you and will return your messages when we have the bandwidth to do so. For now, we bide our time setting short-term goals. My aunt would like to have her new home organized within the next couple of weeks, and she plans to return to work after the holidays. On December 9, Travien Moore has his next appearance in court, and we are remaining faithful that his charges stick and that he is not offered a ridiculous plea bargain. In the near future, my cousin would also like to organize a benefit for Kankakees victims of violent crimes and donate the proceeds to KC-CASA, and my aunt would like to begin volunteering her time to minister to other rape victims. Ill get through this, Angie, she says, but not everyone can by themselves. Ive got to help them. Theres a lot on our plates, so we appreciate your patience as you bear with our varied emotions. Were optimistic about our future, though: Grief is in two parts. The first is loss. The second is the remaking of life. Just wait until you see what we can remake.
Posted on: Sat, 06 Dec 2014 01:05:40 +0000
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