So many too blame in Vasquez tragedy

The outcome of the Vasquez trial was very upsetting. My heart aches for this young mother and her children and family. This was an accident Ms. Vasquez had no control over. An accident is precisely that, an accident.

As testimony indicated, Ms. Vasquez had been sitting in her car, waiting for her sister with the intention of taking her sister home, when she had been asked to break up a fight. With the best of intentions, Ms. Vasquez then offered, out of the goodness of her heart, to take the boy home. When she returned to her car, all these drunk children, minors who knowingly broke the law, forcibly piled into her car. This was their choice, their decision. Yet nobody demands they be held accountable for their own choices and actions.

This tragedy is truly sad, all of these precious lives lost. Nevertheless, to have this young mother bear the full responsibility for her choices as well as the choices made by these young people and others is another tragedy, a mistake. The parents of these youths are equally responsible for this tragedy, if not more so, as they were legally responsible for these young lives. Why didn't the parents check on their own children so late after curfew?

Surely, sentencing a young mother, holding her singularly responsible for the countless mistakes and wrongs of all the people involved in this horrific incident, will not bring those lost back to life; nor will it erase this ugly chapter in the survivors' lives. There is no "closure" for such extreme loss. Imprisoning Ms. Vasquez will never bring justice to this tragedy. This young mother and her family have also endured the most severe of suffering already. It's time to let the healing begin, which includes allowing Ms. Vasquez to resume her life, too.

Geraldine C. Zaha

St. Charles