That was weird.

So recently the man that killed my parents wrote a letter to the local district attorney. His letter was very hateful. Which, is to be expected. What was very strange is that I actually agreed with some of the things that he wrote in his letter.

The attorney, pursue the death penalty even after some of the family expressed concerns for the children involved. Those closest to us knew that a trial would be very taxing and demanding on our young psyches. It turned out to be just that. I still remember sitting in that attorney's office and having to relive that night for all to hear. Which now I can do, but when I was 10, it was horrible.

I thankfully did not have to testify in court. My two cousins were not so lucky. My cousin Lindsey blames herself in part for putting her own father on death row. Now I and everyone else knows, that Eric made the decision to kill which landed him in prison in the first place. But no one that testified at that trial can not blame themselves. This will memory will be in their minds for the rest of their lives. And, I know that if I were in their shoes, I would feel I had participated in the path to the killing of another human life.

The attorney could have entered a plea bargain that had Eric remain in prison for the rest of his natural life and we could have skipped the gut wrenching trial and all of the appeals since. Seeing this story in the news and in the papers has been hard through the years and now that its almost over, I look back at what could have been my entire life. Not reliving this tragic event every year or so through the media but, celebrating the lives my parents lived and the people they were.

Call me what you may, but I stand by my belief that no one has the right to kill another human being. That right should be reserved to God alone.