DRUGS, ALCOHOL, NO EXCUSE

I am sure there were many people like myself who, when reading the
newspaper accounts of Jessica States' last tormented moments of life, felt
tears trickling down their cheeks.

Over the last few years we have read numerous accounts of young children
disappearing; only to be found later, murdered, beaten and often sexually
interfered with. As adults, we all have a duty to conduct our lives in a
manner that will prevent us from putting another's life in danger.

Roderick Jonathan Patten, charged [and convicted] with first-degree murder
in the killing of Jessica States, willingly indulged in consuming alcohol,
LSD and marijuana during a contest with his friends to see who could ingest
most of this toxic elixir.

Patten is 23 years old - an adult who made a conscious choice to play with
drugs, resulting in a little girl's body being savagely violated and
pounded to death. By his own admission and with DNA to substantiate his
confession, Patten ended Jessica's young life.

Had this atrocious act taken place in Texas, where the death penalty
exists, Jessica's family could at least have peace of mind, knowing no
other child would ever die in torment at the hands of a depraved man who
experimented with drugs for fun and ended in the slaughter of a small girl
who just wanted to play baseball.

Margaret J. Jestico

Saanichton