Four Years….

October 30th, 2019 is four years since the night that everything changed.

Most people have at least a general plan of how they expect things are going to go.  Your kids will have struggles, but there are those milestones that you expect to happen.  Driver license, graduation, something else…., marriage?,  kids?, ….    Then you get a wake up call that reality is not based on what you think.

• Alec had only been 17 for ten days.
  • He was at a location with adults.
    • Then the unthinkable happened.

Those of you that have followed this blog have seen hope be raised when after much time and calling out Alec’s case was reopened.

We have been told that …… (such and such will happen)….

Bottom line, nothing has happened except that by reopening the case no freedom of information act request have to be honored because it is active.

I have no expectation that Hempstead County will:

• Explain why the investigator stopped pursuing follow up as he told me he would
• Explain why the scene was treated as a suicide and not as a death scene for investigation
• Explain why those involved didn’t even get a ticket (this time or in the past times the police were called out for underage drinking)
• Explain how the coroner didn’t have detailed notes
• Explain why this wasn’t called into the ASP as a crime against a child when  it fits every legal definition of the law

Time does not heal anything but it does give you time to learn to exist.  Most people would give up at 4 years of being stone walled.  Yes, that is what I believe is happening.  Time is teaching me to manage my emotions as best as I can.   This will continue to go forward but it is evident that it must be done “smarter”.

What can be done?  What happened here can be used as an example to change laws.  The laws are all we the public have.   Those that administer the “law” don’t have checks and balances in this area and that is the problem.  You have no avenue to dispute or have review.  It is totally at the mercy of the investigating office.

Justice in a small town has only the check and balance of elections as was pointed out to me.  Does nepotism exist in the world, you bet. It is truly amazing how much control sits between the district attorney, sheriff and his office, and the coroner.  There is no state oversight or avenue to disagree.  The only influence you have is if they take pity on you or you can exert the power of election pressure.

As stated above the writing of tickets rest with the law enforcement agency but the pursuit of charges rest with the district attorney.  It is at their discretion what is pursued and what isn’t.  A lot of this decision is based upon the feedback of the little circle of power referenced above.

I was advised once, you can lead a horse to water but you can’t make it drink.  My answer was, if the goal is to get water in the horse you can hold it’s head under till you see bubbles…..

There are three things that could have happened to Alec.

• Suicide
• Accident
• Murder

We do know that alcohol was involved which would inhibit his abilities in any of the three above scenarios.  That is why there are laws against this and against adults allowing it.

Investigations depend upon physical evidence to clarify what was possible and what wasn’t.   To verify that statements given are true or false.  Here is the problem.  This was called in as a self inflicted gunshot  and review of the police reports, handling of evidence, dispatch calls, and comments to the state crime lab supports that it was handled as such.   The preconceived notion acted on impacted everything from the arrival on the scene forward.

This could be just a mistake.  Maybe the people weren’t trained properly for handling this type situation.  It is one of the common mistakes made around the country as documented on this blog (by experts).   Most people don’t like admitting mistakes.  Many people will do whatever they can to prove they weren’t wrong.

We did begin new interviews.  I would not be surprised  that these are looking for statements to support the original conclusion.  Why? Because we still are not addressing physical evidence.  Conspiracy  theorist  have pointed out that there must be something else based upon the people involved and how nothing ever seems to happen to them, like they are protected.  I don’t want to go down the rabbit hole, but the lack of standards allows for conclusions to be drawn on theories because there is nothing else to base them on.

Bottom line, we will never know exactly what happened that night.  These four years have strengthened my resolve and my lack of faith in our system and many people.  Justice is supposed to be blind.  I know I can’t prove it but sure would place a bet that if it had been one their kids it would have been handled differently.

Alec,  17 forever.  You are remembered, missed and loved.

The quest will continue.  You deserve better.