My head and my heart are both hurting today. You see, almost three years ago my nephew was murdered. Jake was four when he died at the hands of his biological father. His seventh birthday would have been earlier this week.
My nephew was the sweetest little boy and always smiled and laughed. His biological father did not have custody, but he was spending some time with Jake unsupervised (other than Jake’s step-mother and step-siblings). I don’t know what happened. I won’t speculate, but I hate, hate, hate that Jake suffered (in any way) at the hands of that man.
My sister is Jake’s mother. She was able to see him before he passed on, but she has lived with Jake’s death every day for the past three years. Jake was her everything and my heart hurts for the pain that she feels. I received notice today that there has been a plea deal in this case. Jake’s biological father has been in jail for the past three years, but has finally agreed to a plea deal. Now, I’m not saying the death penalty is or isn’t justified in this case. What I am saying is that with the plea deal, the death penalty is now off the table. What has been agreed upon is the fact that the biological father will remain in prison for the rest of his life and will not have the eligibility for parole. He gets to live, whereas Jake didn’t get that choice.
The judge will hand down sentencing next week, and I’m hopeful that this will bring our family closure as well as give Jake some justice.
We are still awaiting word on if the step-mother will also take a plea deal.
This was the news report from the local station at the time of Jake’s death.
Prior posts on Jake’s death
