JUNE 2022. Blues Vol 38 No. 6.1

Drunk Mom Kills 6yr Old

Drunk Mom Kills 6yr Old Daughter In my 10 years on the street, I've responded to probably thousands of car crashes and road accidents. Most are very minor, or even if they look bad, most have no injuries or only minor injuries. Cars are designed to basically fall apart to absorb impacts and they do their job well. But sometimes speed doesn't matter. Seatbelt use or other factors determine whether it’s a fatal accident. Probably the worst crash I've ever responded to, for me at least, involved two pedestrians, a mother and her 6-year-old daughter. The driver was actually doing everything right (for once). He was going the speed limit (45mph), had the right of way, everything. Unfortunately, this dumb drunk b**ch had decided at about 11pm that she wasn't drunk enough. So, she takes her small child with her to the gas station to get a 40 oz., then proceeded to lead the child across the street into oncoming traffic. Because she was so drunk, she just couldn't process what she was doing. The daughter, trusting her mother completely, stepped out into the road with the mom. Mom only sustained minor injuries. A broken leg, a broken arm, and minor scrapes. The little girl however was killed instantly. She was thrown about 30 feet through the air and landed in the roadway. I feel lucky that I wasn't the first officer on scene. Two of our guy’s left work early that night to go home and decompress. I'll always remember this crash. Seeing that little girl laid out on the road with EMS, Fire, and police surrounding her trying their best to help. There were a lot of tears from first responders. I've never seen so many crying at a scene in public before, or since. The mother was locked up and not allowed to attend the funeral. The father was no longer in the picture, but the little girl’s relatives came to pay their respects. But what struck me the most and will forever be etched in my memory, were the hundreds of first responders from all over the state that came to mourn the loss of this precious little girl. Never have I seen such an outpouring that didn’t involve a fellow first responder. I guess we all have moments like these that will last a lifetime. The horrible memory of that little girl laying broken in the street, her mom so drunk, she had no clue that her baby girl was gone. The paramedics that worked on them both and the anger they had towards the mom and tears they shed for the little girl. And the bond they all shared at the funeral, saying goodbye to someone they barely knew. How in the hell do you pick up the pieces and move on to yet another devasting scene? And do this over, and over again? Because it’s what God chose us to do. To be there in the worst of times and be the heroes that save the day. We do it because it’s our calling. Not because we want to, but because we have too. It’s what we do. I’ll close with this. When you think you can’t go on? That you can no longer be that hero and you feel like you are out of options. Stop and call one of the many first responder hotlines and share your feelings with someone who can relate to what you’re going through. DO NOT BECOME A STATISTC of officers taking their own lives. We need you. They need you. Your family needs you. Take whatever time you need to regroup, refresh, and rejoin. 84 The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE The BLUES POLICE MAGAZINE 85