Some days are just worst when it comes to this fight against DUI. Its an uphill battle that is often 2 steps forward, one step back, but it is a battle that those of us that are really dedicated to it cant give up. Today was one of those days that just one negative after another kept coming. First it started with an article in the Tallahassee Democrat (and I will post the link in the comments below) about a husband here that was just charged with DUI Manslaughter in his wifes death. McKenzie Nattiel, 27, killed his wife Michaela this past Oct 11, 2013 when he was driving drunk, lost control of his car, and crashed into a tree. So far the article on the FB page and on the website people think there is no reason to prosecute him. He has suffered enough. Because we can pick and choose who we will kill, how, and if that then warrants prison time. Wait, no, only if it is DUI. You can see my comments on the Democrats article on their website. Of course, I am alone in my opinion. Then there is a man by the name of Carl Harms who lives in Jacksonville and whose father was killed by a drunk driver. He is posting on his page the video of Matthew Cordle (who many should remember made the video confessionof killing someone when he was wasted and drove the wrong way down the hwy. in hopes of getting a lesser sentence and then tried to get out of the sentence with a team of high priced attorneys) and making him out to be a hero. Talking about how wonderful he is. Now, he doesnt feel the same way about his fathers killer but thinks we should all feel this way about our childrens. He wants people to look up to Cordle as a hero. He also talks about Eric Smallridge and how wonderful he is. Eric Smallridge. A name that is like a nails on a chalkboard to so many of us that have lost our children to DUI. It seems he appeared on the Katie Couric Show yesterday with Renee Napier, whose daughter he killed, and his mom. I think the only one besides Katie that I have respect for there is his mom. Renee Napier chose to forgive her daughters killer. He was sentenced to 30 years on prison. In 2006 she and Lisas mom ( the other girl he killed) wrote a letter asking for his sentence to be reduced. Now Lisas mom isnt as forgiving as is my understanding of it. Renee Napier was able to get Eric out of prison to speak to students in high schools. That was a win for him. He got out of prison for a day on different occasions. And I cringed whenever I knew it was happening. Im not the only parent of a child that was killed that did. It was a slap in the face to us. His sentence getting reduced did nothing to help us with our fight against this violent crime. And forgiveness, being a very personal thing, does not belong in the same discussion with these students in getting them not to drink and drive, to make good choices. Katie Couric asked if this didnt minimize the crime. Yes, Katie, you are spot on. It totally minimized it to make one person feel better. But all of our children matter too. And the children and loved ones that will die tonight, tomorrow and the next day. I met Erics mother right after Matt was killed and one thing I can say about her is that she is a very honest woman. She said she doesnt know that she could forgive if it were one of her children. She apologized to me for what happened to my child. Everyone above is being made out to be heroes (even called that by some) or victims when they are, in fact, the criminal. What other crime are we accepting of? Do we make so many excuses for? I didnt make excuses for it before Matthew was killed. Maybe that is why it is even harder for me to understand now. To understand how selfish people are. If we are going to keep making excuses for these people we are going to keep watching our loved ones get killed and be injured by them.
Posted on: Thu, 27 Mar 2014 01:14:59 +0000
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