Comments | brightspot: More Information on Abigail's death

brightspot

More Information on Abigail's death

Mar 02, 2006 08:40

From our local news station:

"A Hilliard mother is charged with a drunk driving accident that killed her own little girl, but the mother hasn't been arrested because she admitted herself to a psychiatric hospital ( Read more... )

death, angry

Comments 38

krys33 March 2 2006, 15:00:06 UTC

I agree with you that it was completely wrong for police to leave a drunk driver even on the road for twenty minutes, much less with a child in the front seat. I also find it hard to believe that all the other officers were taking care of situations more important than someone driving under the influence.

But I can't help but think that this will be good for the mother: maybe now she'll see what her awful habits are doing to every one. Every cloud has a silver lining, right?

Hope that you, and especially your daughter, are doing well.

-Krystal

brightspot March 2 2006, 15:15:06 UTC

Honestly, I hope the mother gets life in jail. I could care less whether it protects her or not, but to protect the rest of the children in our community from her drunken rage on the roads. I don't care if this helps her fix her life - she killed her daughter. I can't see past that. Maybe at some point later, but not now. Right now I wish her excesses of psychical pain and torment ( ... )

ohiorenaissance March 2 2006, 16:25:01 UTC

I'm right there with you dear.

This is exactly why I hate driving and for the most part hate everyone on the road - too many lunatics and terrible drivers. I've had enough near misses with other ass-monkeys, and it scares the shit out of me when I have my own little ones in the vehicle with me. It's also one of the reasons I think I still drive a big SUV - should there be an accident, my vehicle wins and my kids should fair better. Obviously, I am a paranoid safe defensive driver.

brightspot March 2 2006, 16:33:01 UTC

You know, I really never thought about it before - I even have a friend who, several years ago, lost her license for drunk driving. She smacked into the back of an SUV on a freeway at midnight. Even having supported her through her community service, classes and license suspension, I never really considered what might have happened if it had been a smaller car, or if there had been a kid in it ( ... )

theroadtoelle March 3 2006, 10:09:28 UTC

I don't have airbags in my car, so I used to put my kids in the front seat of my car. ALWAYS with seat belts and safety seats though! I don't do it often though. Less now. I used to do it when the kids were really little and I felt I needed to be able to keep an eye on them while they were driving. They had those capsule seats that flip up to protect them in the case of a crash though, so I guess that's something. Jay still sometimes gets a ride in the front. No air bags though, and safety belts and car seat. Hmm...

ohiorenaissance March 2 2006, 17:06:01 UTC

The worst thing that has ever happened to me was to become a parent. Not because I have kids, but because I have to interact with other parents on a regular basis.

I have made it a personal goal to tell parents at the school they are parking in the fire lane and to please move their vehicle. They sure get pissy about it too. I had one dad literaly say, "Can't you see I'm carrying donuts into the school". God it took all my will power to not beat him about the head and shoulders right there.

mireille March 3 2006, 06:08:07 UTC

I couldn't stop thinking about this driving home. I just wanted to let you know that you and Lorelei are on my mind.

I'm glad she's got you as she's going through this. It sounds like she's got a great support network. You know, I'm sure Abigail felt the same love and caring while she was with you all.

*hugs*

(*~(*~(*~Abigail, Mr. Volpe, Brightie, & Lorelei ~*)~*)~*) candledamachine March 3 2006, 14:10:10 UTC

OMG Brightie! I'm flattened to hear of this!! This is an incredibly sad story and a highly ire-raising situation. I can't even imagine how Mr. Volpe is feeling. Little Lorelei- is she handling this appropriately? I'm glad she's going to be able to talk to pros about it though ( ... )

Re: (*~(*~(*~Abigail, Mr. Volpe, Brightie, & Lorelei ~*)~*)~*) budhaboy July 20 2006, 21:02:43 UTC

To be fair to the cops...

From what I remember of the accident she was driving down fifth avenue which is technically in Columbus proper, and not in either of the suburbs that are a block in either direction. Growing up in the area getting a Columbus cop out to that area is like pulling teeth, and the local cops usually don't get involved if a law isn't being broken in their jusisdiction... In fact, I'm not sure if the 911 operator would even be able to dispatch to grandview, arlington or Hilliard police forces.

Re: (*~(*~(*~Abigail, Mr. Volpe, Brightie, & Lorelei ~*)~*)~*) brightspot July 20 2006, 21:07:34 UTC

From the 911 tapes:

Dispatcher: We haven't dispatched an officer because we don't have one available in that area. It's Friday night; we're busy.

Caller: I was just concerned because there's a little girl in the front seat.

How can I pull that up so fast? Because the call transcript, the article, Abby's picture and the card we got from her father are all still hanging in my cubicle. I think about that little girl every day, and my daughter still mentions her all the time.

Unless every officer in this city was handling a deranged axe murder about to set buildings on fire and hack bits to pieces, someone should have been dispatched to stop that woman. They had over half an hour's lead time while people were calling in, and that particular caller was on the phone for 20 minutes until the mother sped into a tree. That's just inexcusable.

Re: (*~(*~(*~Abigail, Mr. Volpe, Brightie, & Lorelei ~*)~*)~*) budhaboy July 20 2006, 21:15:51 UTC

I think you are missing the point...

The police in columbus are 'zoned' They don't usually send cars out to that area to patrol as it is in a very nearly land-locked section of columbus... Given the amount of crime in other parts of the city (short-north, campus, east-side... etc) and the relative size of the area involved, people would be screaming bloody murder for wasting the resources of a cop to be available at a moments notice to such a far-flung outpost.

This is simply the downside the descions the city of columbus made in expanding their domain at any cost... even if it made actually providing city services to the area nearly impossible.

Knowing Columbus as I do, I'm guessing that they have changed their policies reguarding 'zoned' patrols, or have opened up the jurisdictions to allow either Arlington, or Grandview cops to respond to calls.

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