How heinous does a crime have to be before you turn your son, daughter, father, sister or brother into law enforcement?

[William Lambert]

How heinous does a crime have to be before you turn your son, daughter, father, sister or brother into law enforcement?
As long as it is someone else’s family member you can prophesy about what should have been done, and what you could have done, but would you really if it was your child who committed a terrible crime and you knew. You knew because they told you.
Would you drop a dime on your daughter, the child you carried for nine months, raised through the terrible twos, the cute fives, the fresh 8s, 9s and 10s, watched her go through bad hair days, listen to her learn to play piano, watched the terrible ballet recital, watched her regally walk around a ballroom as Miss whatever the high school name is? The child you went into debt to help graduate from college, the mother of your grandkids. The child that everyone say look just like you, the kid you would give your heart to if she needed it.
Would you call the police and say that your daughter committed a crime that you know will cause her to be incarcerated for the rest of her life, to face a possible death penalty charge, to have a felony record that will take away her right to vote, a record that will prevent her from getting a job? An action that will change her life style the life style you have worked so hard to help her establish.
Would you call the police to see your precious marched out of your home, her home in handcuffs, to spend time in jail with really bad people, dope addict, prostitutes, and thieves? People who might abuse her while she is in jail. Would you call the police to turn in your blood after hearing her feeble excuses and her pleas for your help to hide the crime? Would you?
Would you tell the police that your daughter, the mother of your grand children is the one they are seeking?
Would you take your daughter to the police station to turn her in?
I would.
I love my daughter and all of my grandkids but if she committed a crime such as the terrible hit and run accident that took place in Atlanta on Easter Sunday I would call the police on her in a heart beat. I would turn in my only daughter, my only grandson, my mother even if they had committed such a crime. No account of begging could prevent me from taking them to face the judge. No amount of threats to withhold her love would prevent me from dialing 911 and saying, “my daughter is the person you are seeking, for …”
Does it matter the crime? No it does not. I have taught my daughter personal accountability and this would be the ultimate test of how I have raised her. Accident, intentional, self defense it does not matter. I would turn her in and seek help to ensure that she gets a good legal representation, and beg for mercy.
My heart aches for the families of the people involved in that terrible accident. I will always remember the grandmother crying and the pain of the loss. I cannot imagine the depts of her anguish. I just pray that I never have to feel it as my heart ached for her in a manner that had me crying.
At the same time I feel the pain that the mother of the young woman who was involved in the accident. What a terrible legacy her daughter has made, a legacy that went from bad to God awful. But wait, this was an accident, this was a terrible accident, that young woman did not intentionally go out to kill five people she did not know. Yes it was an accident. Something happened that put things in motion that caused this accident, maybe it was the butterfly theory. It was preordained or something it was an accident. It was an accident that became a wide awake nightmare.
I can only theorized that the young woman freaked and went home, home where it is safe, home where mama is, home where everything always work out. Home to see if this was a terrible nightmare and she would wake up from it and all would be well. I understand her flight reflex to run home, I can only imagine how afraid she was, how sick to the stomach she felt, how nervous she was, how out of control it had to all appeared, the twilight zone, it could not really be real, an outer body experience. This was not happening to her, it could not have been. The realization of the gravity of the accident most likely sent her into a crying screaming suicidal fit.
What I do not understand is, why after the gnashing of teeth, the self loathing, the crying till there were no more tears and desire to die, did she not turned herself in. I fail to understand how for one minutes that she thought that her life would be the same as always and what had happened. How she could sleep at night; look at herself in the mirror, carry on a conversation knowing that she was responsible for the lives of five people, three of them children.
When I saw the young woman on TV, the child looked like she was in shock, cried out, drained, relieved and ready to face whatever is to be thrown at her. She was ready to be caught, too afraid to have given herself up but ready to be caught.
Her mother did her a injustice by allowing her to hide this crime and as a result now not only are there five dead people, a young woman can face up o to 110 years in prison, her mother also faces a lot of time and other people may also have to face the judge.
I would have turned her in. Hate me, if she must but I would have turned her in.
I would have prayed for forgiveness from her, prayed for the victims and asked the family for their forgiveness as well. I would have done what I could to help her legally but I would not have helped her to hide from accepting responsible for an accident.
It had been my daughter; I would have turned her in and I hope that my daughter would turn me in if it was me in that situation, and I would not be mad at her.

Michele