"The
murder of Melanie Davis is an unimaginable personal tragedy for all who knew
and loved her and the brutality of the crime touches every one of us on a
human level.
As
devastating as is the senseless loss of a life, this case is even more tragic
for the simple fact that Zack is also a victim here. After Zack Davis'
father died, in his presence, of a degenerative illness, being moved and isolated
from extended family, Zack sent up every possible red flag a nine-year-old is
able to articulate that he was depressed, disturbed, and sliding into a chasm
of despair and frustration. And yet, he was failed at every turn by the
school system, the child welfare system, the family and society.
Any one
person that encountered Zack—teachers, neighbors, immediate family—knew
‘something' was deeply wrong. His school knew. His mother
knew. But nothing was done.
Now,
transferred to the adult criminal justice system, he will get nothing in the
way of rehabilitation, medication, or counseling.
Zack Davis
is truly lost in the system.
At age
–barely—15.
We need
to ask ourselves as a society if this is the way we want to handle troubled
youthful offenders, and we most certainly need to work with schools to better
identify troubled children who are crying out for someone to hear them."
-Randy
P. Lucas
LUCAS
LAW FIRM
