Today we lost a MENA jewel

[RAKASA 0]

I PM'd Jackie to vent a bit last night....I wont share all here, but will say that we had to move Dawn's things over the past two days. She and H lived in an apartment and their landlord was a loser with no conscience who showed our family no compassion. It was the end of the month and he wanted everything out so he could re-rent the apartment.

We spent many hours with Hatem. He is doing better. Like us, he is still taking the loss hard. He will still need more surgeries, but not yet. The docs want the others to heal up a bit more. Physically, he is doing better though.

Mom is still a wreck. My sister and I have our bouts of anger and rely heavily on our children to keep us sane. My sister's daughter is so adorable and she clings to Shannon whenever she is sad or starts crying. My son keeps saying don't be sad, let's play Wii football. How can you stay sad when a 2 and 5 year old remind you that they need you?

They are the best medicine ever created!

Well, good night everyone.

Ryan

Ryan, thinking of your family daily... You may never "get over" this, but time will heal and things *will* get easier.

[Ban Hammer 13,143]

She and H lived in an apartment and their landlord was a loser with no conscience who showed our family no compassion. It was the end of the month and he wanted everything out so he could re-rent the apartment.

show the landlord this smiley, it's what i think of him.

[mohamed N melinda 0]

We are thinking of ur family Ryan at this time .We are praying this man gets what he deserves!!! Inshallah! I cant believe there landlord was so rude its sad how some people are and have no heart!

Melinda and Mohamed

[deadbird 2]

I feel awful that I haven't been around VJ in months and I didn't know Dawn very well. Our prayers go out to Hatem and Ryan and your family.

The drunk and the landlord deserve to rot! God will not ignore their actions.

[♥JP♥ 5]

Ryan I can't even begin to imagine what your family is going through. It's so unnatural for parents to bury their children, I watched my grandmother do this several years ago. Keep you faith in God. As hard as this is for everyone, your mother will bear the brunt of it. Keep her strong, take care of yourself and your family.

I hope that things get easier for all of you, time heals all wounds.

[Aymerlu 3]

How's Hatem doing? Is he recovering ok? Did he have surgery? Hows mama and the rest of the family? I hope you are all taking quality time for urselves and grieving as you need to enshallah.

amal

I PM'd Jackie to vent a bit last night....I wont share all here, but will say that we had to move Dawn's things over the past two days. She and H lived in an apartment and their landlord was a loser with no conscience who showed our family no compassion. It was the end of the month and he wanted everything out so he could re-rent the apartment.

We spent many hours with Hatem. He is doing better. Like us, he is still taking the loss hard. He will still need more surgeries, but not yet. The docs want the others to heal up a bit more. Physically, he is doing better though.

Mom is still a wreck. My sister and I have our bouts of anger and rely heavily on our children to keep us sane. My sister's daughter is so adorable and she clings to Shannon whenever she is sad or starts crying. My son keeps saying don't be sad, let's play Wii football. How can you stay sad when a 2 and 5 year old remind you that they need you?

They are the best medicine ever created!

Well, good night everyone.

Ryan

[bhajishah 4]

Sorry for your loss.

[maggieNomar 0]

Thanks for the updates Ryan. There is one company here that has taxi's driven by people who look similar to Hatem. Everytime I see that particular taxi group, I remember he and Dawn. Please send Hatem our well wishes for his recovery. i hope he knows how much Dawn meant to us all here on VJ.

[~Jackie~ 30]

Bringing Dawn's thread to the front. Ryan or Hatem might come on and give us an update about court today. I want them to be able to find the thread.

The man that killed Dawn goes before a judge at 1:30pm. I wanted to be there to look him in the eye. I wanted him to see the pain in my eyes, but I have to work and cannot be there.

It's not even about justice. Nothing can bring back Dawn. What can be done to him? Doesn't change anything.

If Hatem or Ryan do not come here today, I will call and see what happened in court and update here when I get home from work.

Jackie

[maggieNomar 0]

Bringing Dawn's thread to the front. Ryan or Hatem might come on and give us an update about court today. I want them to be able to find the thread.

The man that killed Dawn goes before a judge at 1:30pm. I wanted to be there to look him in the eye. I wanted him to see the pain in my eyes, but I have to work and cannot be there.

It's not even about justice. Nothing can bring back Dawn. What can be done to him? Doesn't change anything.

If Hatem or Ryan do not come here today, I will call and see what happened in court and update here when I get home from work.

Jackie

Thanks for keeping us updated. Will pray for justice.

[amal 4]

thx jax. I am anxious to hear what happens....

[Ryan Voss 0]

Jackie, thanks for the bump.

We went to the courthouse today. After meeting with the states attorney, we were prepared for a long-drug out ordeal. We were informed that he was indicted by a Grand Jury on mulitiple felony charges Tuesday with a maximum jail time of 12 years.

According to the Procesutor, Robert is dying from serosis of the liver and does not want to die in jail (my heart breaks for the POS -- truthfully, I am only saddend that he is being medicated to reduce his pain). When Robert went before the judge, he plead "not guilty" to all of the counts. The prosecutor advised that Robert hired a very good, very expensive lawer with a great record; he further stated that the assigned judge has a mixed history regarding DUI. He has let offenders go with probation in occurences involving deaths and he has assigned maximum sentences. So, we do not know how this will end up.

The defense surprised everyone today; the State, as well as our AAIM & MADD advocates by requesting a speedy trial. The trial will actually begin in September and may only last a couple days. According to all, this is un-heard of. The process is usually drug out through years of continuances.

As Robert was leaving the room, he turned and looked at us then turned away. No remorse in his expression what so ever. His skin was very yellow. It is obvious that his liver is not working properly -- again my heart is bleeding.

It was stated in court and again later by the prosecutor that this was Robert's first offence. I questioned that since the State Police advised us he was a repeat offender with three other counts. The prosecutor advised that in Illinois, he only had one prior DUI arrest, but with no disposition -- which would make this his 2nd in Illinois, but legally, his first offense. He said he will pull records from all other states to see if he had priors out of state as this would change the min-max punishments he could get.

That is all we have until his next court date.

[amal 4]

Wow, the very thing that took away our Dawn is the same thing that caused this POS' disease. It was his choice to get behind that steering wheel after being well over-the-limit intoxicated so therefore I have no real sorrow for him. How could he plead not guilty when it was he that was driving, he that was intoxicated, and he that was so careless as to cause this tragic thing to happen. OF COURSE HE'S GUILTY!! Just coz he is dying doesn't mean that he has to take the fate of the rest of the world in his hands too. Oh, and to say that he doesn't want to die behind bars??? Well Dawn didn't want to lose her life on the highway but she didn't have a choice!! It was HIS CHOICE to take her life (in my opinion) and he deserves the full punishment wether he is ill or not. If he would have shown some remorse for what happened...a tear, a heart felt "i'm so very very sorry for what I've done" or ANYTHING would have possibly given reason to feel somewhat sorry for him but he passed up that opportunity and now that he has shown that he has no conscience towards other humans, I hope he gets the full sentence and completes his life behind bars where he can not harm another person...EVER.

I'm sorry for being angry. I need to be supportive and not vent my frustrations out at this time. Thank you for posting the update and I hope that you will continue to update us as new things unfold.

I hope your family is getting through this grieving process safely. Please let the rest of the family know that all of you are still in many of our prayers.

amal

[RAKASA 0]

Ryan, thank you for the update. I'm just sorry it wasn't more conclusive. I'm at a loss for words right now. Your family is still in my prayers daily and I think of Dawn regularly. She is truly missed. That POS will eventually answer to the highest authority there is (Allah/God) and he will get what he deserves.

(F) My deepest sympathies are still w/ your family & Hatem at this time. I wonder how Hatem is doing? Recovering well, I pray. Grieving will be the biggest hurdle for you all. (F)

[kerewin21 2]

We went to the courthouse today. After meeting with the states attorney, we were prepared for a long-drug out ordeal. We were informed that he was indicted by a Grand Jury on mulitiple felony charges Tuesday with a maximum jail time of 12 years.

MAXIMUM 12 years? For killing an innocent woman and nearly killing an innocent man????

What kind of a country is this

Ryan, I pray that the trial will not make things harder on you and your family. Please keep us posted.