I Wasn't Done

This is not the post I had in my head to write today. It was going to be something different. Something soft and fluffy. One of those feel good pieces. Then I did my normal morning reading and this story just eats away at my soul like a cancer. Yesterday I wrote about Michael Dunn and maybe today I will finish my thoughts on him and his crimes. He really is a sideshow to what I am trying to say today but the story starts with him. While in jail awaiting trail Mr. Dunn had a number of telephone conversations with his girlfriend. Transcripts and recordings of some of those calls have been released. Keep in mind I worked for over 20 years in an adult prison. All the telephone calls are recorded. It is not a secret. It is clearly posted by the phones and inmates are advised. Special arrangements are made for them to have confidential telephone calls to their attorney if it is requested by the attorney in writing. So, I begin with two thoughts. First, Mr. Dunn is an idiot for making the comments he did on a telephone line he knew was recorded. Second, he's an idiot for so doing and thinking it would garner him any sympathy. Mr. Dunn on several occassions refers to himself as the victim in this incident which resulted in the death of Jordan Davis. I cannot begin to express how delusional I think his statements are. His idiotic rantings are not what caught my attention. It was the statements made by Jordan Davis' parents.

His father Ron Davis stated:

     "Michael Dunn should understand that the victim was the one that had a bullet go through his lungs, a bullet tear through his aorta. The victim was the one that was choking on his own blood and was gasping for air. The victim was a 17 year old teenager that should have had his whole life in front of him that was seeing his life go away in seconds, and he was probably so fearful- and his friends were looking on watching their best friend die in a monent of seconds- that's the victim."

I can't watch the video of the interview this quote was taken from because even in print it is so raw. The emotions so on edge. As a parent I think about my sons and daughter. How that kind of death would weigh on me. Nothing that they could do to Mr. Dunn would be sufficient to ease an ounce of my pain. It would haunt the remainder of my life.

His mother Lucia McBath stated:

     " What I would say to him is that not only did you take Jordan's life but you took my future. I won't have any grandchildren, I will never have a daughter-in-law. I don't have those things anymore, but what he'll need to understand is that in some way, shape or form, he will pay- even if we don't ever receive the verdit for Jordan. He will pay because he is going to spend the rest of his life in prison."

I have been blessed with a wonderful daughter-in-law who has, with our son, blessed us with three amazing granddaughters. I cannot imagine our lives without them. A life where instead of Jordan it was our son. The complete emptiness of never knowing the joys of what could have been. Watching the days go by and wondering, would he be graduating from high school now? College? Married? Children? The hollowness of birthdays he is not there to celebrate. A moment in time and so many victims. Jordan, Ron and Lucia, their friends and family. Everyone that has been touched by a senseless shooting empowered by a stupid law. There are many victims here but Michael Dunn NONE of them is YOU!