In A Rage

Words cannot describe the rage that consumed me when I read this:

Kenosha – A high school senior accused of dumping his newborn son in a portable toilet apologized for trying to kill the baby but said he threw the infant away because he didn’t want the child, a detective testified Wednesday.

Gabriel Estrada, 18, was bound over for trial following a preliminary hearing Wednesday. Charged with attempted first-degree intentional homicide, Estrada remains in custody in lieu of $500,000 bail.

In a written statement he gave to Kenosha County Sheriff’s Detective Scott Stanek, Estrada said he thought the baby would be found in two or three days, and it would be dead by then.

The sheer callousness and stupidity of such an act boggles me.

I don’t have children of my own.  However, after holding my nieces when they were just a few hours old I came to understand why and how most parents will do anything to protect their children.  It seems impossible to me to hold a small infant and not be awed by the tremendous power we have to affect their lives and humbled by the responsibility that comes with it.  They’re older now, but I still shudder at the thought of anything happening to my nieces and I feel a tremendous responsibility to protect them in any way possible.

I have never been able to understand how people can intentionally hurt a child or how someone can be so disconnected from humanity as to dispose of one as if it were an inconvenient bit of refuse.  What’s more, it is such a stupid thing to do.  There are many ways that this could have been handled.  There are so many people out there that want children who would jump at the chance to adopt this child.  Even the (17-year old) mother wanted the child taken to a church.  And from what I’ve been told, Wisconsin has a drop-off law that would have allowed them to give the baby away with no questions asked.

No, I will not feel sorry for this piece of crap and whatever punishment he receives.  Whatever it is, it won’t be sufficient.

Link via Rachel Lucas, who’s also mad as hell about this.

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