Welcome to DU!
The truly grassroots left-of-center political community where regular people, not algorithms, drive the discussions and set the standards.
Join the community:
Create a free account
Support DU (and get rid of ads!):
Become a Star Member
Latest Breaking News
General Discussion
The DU Lounge
All Forums
Issue Forums
Culture Forums
Alliance Forums
Region Forums
Support Forums
Help & Search
Erin Runnion: "We need to understand what creates these monsters."
[bErin Runnion on child safety, forgiveness and whether she'll ever bring herself child.
Erin Runnion on child safety, forgiveness and whether she'll ever bring herself to meet Samantha Runnion's killer
The first time Erin Runnion saw Alejandro Avila was in a packed courtroom during a pre-trial hearing about 12 years ago.
Their eyes briefly met. This was the man who had snatched her daughter, Samantha, days before her sixth birthday. This was the man who took her into a motel room and violated her, as the little girl kicked, screamed and fought.
This was the man who left Samantha’s brutalized, naked, lifeless body on a hillside in Lake Elsinore, posed, as if to show off his work.
This was the man who took innocence away from a little girl who loved superheroes, princess costumes and sunflowers.
On that day, in that courtroom, Runnion turned away in disgust at the sight of his face.
...She didn’t watch television for the next eight years. She didn’t want to hear his name. She didn’t want to see his face or image.
All she cared about were memories of those precious few years she shared with her daughter. And her crusade to prevent violence against children through the Joyful Child Foundation – an organization she founded in memory of her own little bundle of joy.
...Runnion struggles with the concept of forgiveness.
“My way of forgiving is to recognize and accept who (Avila) was and where he came from,” she said.
During the trial, Runnion heard from defense attorneys and testimony from Avila’s own family members about severe physical and sexual abuse to which her daughter’s killer had been subjected.
She learned that he and his siblings were disciplined harshly. They were tied up in a room, beaten mercilessly. During the trial, defense attorneys told jurors about how Avila was repeatedly berated by his father.
Runnion learned that the system had failed Avila and his siblings. They never had the choice or the opportunity to leave that environment, which Runnion saw was a fertile breeding ground for a monster who would do what he did, as an adult, to an innocent child.
“It’s no excuse for what he did at all,” she said. “But, it is a fact that (Avila) was a victim of horrible crimes himself as a child. We need to prevent crimes against all children.”
Runnion tells Avila’s story, without mentioning his name, as she speaks about crime prevention and victim advocacy.
“I tell his story for a lot of reasons,” she said. “People tend to think about child murderers as monsters. But we need to understand that what creates these monsters is this cycle of violence.”
Without understanding this vicious cycle, Runnion said, you cannot combat or prevent these atrocities from happening again...
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/runnion-648881-avila-samantha.html
Their eyes briefly met. This was the man who had snatched her daughter, Samantha, days before her sixth birthday. This was the man who took her into a motel room and violated her, as the little girl kicked, screamed and fought.
This was the man who left Samantha’s brutalized, naked, lifeless body on a hillside in Lake Elsinore, posed, as if to show off his work.
This was the man who took innocence away from a little girl who loved superheroes, princess costumes and sunflowers.
On that day, in that courtroom, Runnion turned away in disgust at the sight of his face.
...She didn’t watch television for the next eight years. She didn’t want to hear his name. She didn’t want to see his face or image.
All she cared about were memories of those precious few years she shared with her daughter. And her crusade to prevent violence against children through the Joyful Child Foundation – an organization she founded in memory of her own little bundle of joy.
...Runnion struggles with the concept of forgiveness.
“My way of forgiving is to recognize and accept who (Avila) was and where he came from,” she said.
During the trial, Runnion heard from defense attorneys and testimony from Avila’s own family members about severe physical and sexual abuse to which her daughter’s killer had been subjected.
She learned that he and his siblings were disciplined harshly. They were tied up in a room, beaten mercilessly. During the trial, defense attorneys told jurors about how Avila was repeatedly berated by his father.
Runnion learned that the system had failed Avila and his siblings. They never had the choice or the opportunity to leave that environment, which Runnion saw was a fertile breeding ground for a monster who would do what he did, as an adult, to an innocent child.
“It’s no excuse for what he did at all,” she said. “But, it is a fact that (Avila) was a victim of horrible crimes himself as a child. We need to prevent crimes against all children.”
Runnion tells Avila’s story, without mentioning his name, as she speaks about crime prevention and victim advocacy.
“I tell his story for a lot of reasons,” she said. “People tend to think about child murderers as monsters. But we need to understand that what creates these monsters is this cycle of violence.”
Without understanding this vicious cycle, Runnion said, you cannot combat or prevent these atrocities from happening again...
http://www.ocregister.com/articles/runnion-648881-avila-samantha.html
I will never forget the strength and goodness of Erin Runnion that came through immediately after this tragedy. She has gone on to dedicate her life to The Joyful Child Foundation and protecting children from abuse and danger of all kinds, from the type that killed Samantha to the circumstances that marked the deformed childhood of her killer. The message is simple: "No one has the right to hurt a child."
