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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTrenton Girl Taunted By Neighbor’s ‘Death Machine’ Has Died
Trenton Girl Taunted By Neighbors Death Machine Has Died
TRENTON (WWJ) - The Downriver girl who attracted worldwide attention for a neighbors taunting during her battle with Huntingtons Disease has died.
Nine-year-old Kathleen Edward, of Trenton, died Wednesday night after a long bout with pneumonia, which is especially tough for Huntingtons patients to beat.
Kathleen far exceeded our expectations of survival. Shes the strongest little girl I ever met in my entire life, and she didnt quit fighting. Now she gets to go into the arms of her mother, Laura, said family friend Michelle Yerigian.
Kathleen was diagnosed with the disease when she was about 3 years old. She was just 6 years old when her mother died of Huntingtons disease at the age of 24.
Kathleen attracted attention from around the world when they learned she was the subject of online taunting by her neighbor, Jennifer Petkov. Petkov published a photo of the terminally ill schoolgirl on Facebook above a set of skull and crossed bones. Petkov also allegedly attached a coffin to her truck, labeled it Death Machine and drove it down the street honking the horn.
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http://detroit.cbslocal.com/2012/01/12/trenton-girl-taunted-by-neighbor-dies/
HopeHoops
(47,675 posts)That's just wrong on way too many levels.
ChairmanAgnostic
(28,017 posts)How sick.
HopeHoops
(47,675 posts)Hugabear
(10,340 posts)I've yet to meet a rational teabagger. In fact, most I've met seem to delight in violent fantasies involving "liberals" and others they deem unworthy.
barbtries
(28,702 posts)i think it was this story, the woman was interviewed on TV. she was remorseless. not an empathetic or sympathetic bone in her body. but even then, how can that be your idea of how to spend your time? i don't get it and i hope i never do.
Proud Liberal Dem
(24,355 posts)whose sole purpose in life seems to be ensuring that women & families don't control their own reproductive lives and that men and women aren't allowed to control their own sexuality and/or gender identity.
A brunch of freakin' sociopaths.
hang a left
(10,921 posts)In a friggin back alley!
Initech
(99,914 posts)Zalatix
(8,994 posts)[img][/img]
Lance_Boyle
(5,559 posts)Zalatix
(8,994 posts)Gormy Cuss
(30,884 posts)but her husband helped with the construction and use of the coffin car. From the older article:
More recently, neighbors in Trenton, told the local news station that Petkov and her husband decorated their pickup to look like a hearse, strapped a homemade coffin on top, and drove it back and forth in front of the home Kathleen shares with her father and step mother. Petkov said it was just a Halloween prank.
Zalatix
(8,994 posts)the mockery thing wasn't illegal, but confessing to attempted vehicular manslaughter is.
marble falls
(56,358 posts)Kathleen has it too. But the disease is not her only nemesis.
Kathleen is also the victim of a horrifying cyberbullying attack and the perpetrator is a 33-year-old neighbor, Jennifer Petkov.
Petkov admitted that she had posted ghoulish art work of the child on her Facebook page. The picture showed the Kathleens face eyes closed and tongue lolling out with a pair of crossed bones beneath it.
Petkov also admitted to posting a Photoshopped image of Kathleens mother cradled by the Grim Reaper.
https://detroit.cbslocal.com/2010/10/14/overwhelming-support-for-terminally-ill-girl/
When asked why she did it, Petkov sounded a lot like a high school mean girl. Personal satisfaction, she told local TV station WJBK. Because it rubs their a** raw.
Police said they visited the two homes on several occasions, as the families had been feuding for years.
More recently, neighbors in Trenton, told the local news station that Petkov and her husband decorated their pickup to look like a hearse, strapped a homemade coffin on top, and drove it back and forth in front of the home Kathleen shares with her father and step mother. Petkov said it was just a Halloween prank.
The Edward family now has a restraining order against the Petkovs, and the neighborhood has banded together in support of the little girl. A Facebook group, We Love You Kathleen, has almost 4,000 members.
Petkov and her husband have made a public apology and dismantled the coffin on top of the hearse.
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)I hope she's at peace.
hlthe2b
(101,720 posts)be offered in the "next realm"..... RIP, you beautiful little girl. May you find the kindness you so overwhelmingly deserve.
frylock
(34,825 posts)sad story.
Odin2005
(53,521 posts)Petkov deserve to rot in Hell.
AtomicKitten
(46,585 posts)MrScorpio
(73,626 posts)TwilightGardener
(46,416 posts)Javaman
(62,439 posts)polly7
(20,582 posts)Huntingtons is such a terrible desease. I hope she's at peace with her Mom.
Enrique
(27,461 posts)reminds me of Ann Coulter.
snagglepuss
(12,704 posts)It's unreal that the nieghbor was allowed to do this.
Broderick
(4,578 posts)I hope she is writhing in misery.
Response to Broderick (Reply #20)
Bunny This message was self-deleted by its author.
LiberalAndProud
(12,799 posts)renate
(13,776 posts)Or at least as of October 2010 (and I can't imagine that a judge would give custody back to her).
And Kathleen got love and support from so many more people than she would have otherwise. I'm not saying it was worth what she had to endure from her neighbor... I'm just glad it worked out that way and that some good came out of a doubly horrible situation.
Wind Dancer
(3,618 posts)What a horrific thing to do! WTF is wrong with people? I swear there are more sociopaths /psychopaths in this country now and they rear their ugly faces via facebook and the like. This just makes me physically sick.
RIP, little one.
negativenihil
(795 posts)a 33 year old adult woman at some point decided it would be ok to go after a 9 year old *girl*... with a disease like this... Because it rubs their ass raw?
Words escape me.
Rest in peace Kathleen.
sufrommich
(22,871 posts)child, such an ugly neighbor.
riderinthestorm
(23,272 posts)What a beautiful and brave girl who hopefully got some peace in her last days without that hateful bitch in her life or anywhere near her.
Beacool
(30,244 posts)As for the rotten bastards who taunted her, may they rot in hell when their time comes.
renate
(13,776 posts)Living every minute of every day with that rank stew of vileness and hatefulness inside them... I don't think they've had a moment of peace in their lives. I think that they are literally living in hell already.
Beacool
(30,244 posts)It is beyond comprehension how a feud between neighbors could escalate to the point where a woman would make fun of a dying little girl and her dead mother. How vile can someone be????
Sometimes human beings make me sick.
ddeclue
(16,733 posts)WI_DEM
(33,497 posts)IcyPeas
(21,743 posts)DonCoquixote
(13,615 posts)People who insist they have a god given right to hurt people as much as they want, and then get angry when you dare challenge them.