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Our Children

Click on a name below to see their page

 

Danielle McCarthy
Washington

Christi Nowak
Georgia

Anke Furber
Georgia

Levi Wren
Washington

Ephrain Schultz
New York

Mark R Ellis
Rhode Island

Sean P. Efford
New Mexico

Caitlyn Brady
New Hampshire

Katty McGuire Andrea
Washington

JP Faulk
Florida

Michael Miller
Massachusetts

Chuck Tabaka
Wisconsin

Miranda Daly
California

Jamie Leavitt
Washington

Kaylin Marie Mathews
California

RJ Davis
Alabama

Billy Grandchamp
Rhode Island

Nicholas Werhofnik
Georgia

Rebecca Marks
New York

Dustin Kueter
South Dakota

Chase Denver Julian
Louisiana

Katelynn Porter
Ontario,Canada

Tony Trujillo
Colorado

Billy Joe Towle Jr.
Michigan

Kelley Wilson
Alabama

Rhiannon Fraser
Florida

Vivianna Satterfield
New Mexico

Kelli Laine Lewis
South Carolina

Taylor Smith
Georgia


Danielle cherished family, friends and life. She had her whole life planned out; her husband, number of kids, two dogs and would be a dermatologist, a career where she could help others but have time for her family.
Christi had just enrolled in college. She just began taking First Baptist Church shuttles downtown every Thursday to befriend the homeless. Just chit chatting with them and letting them know they had a friend. In her journals, she was determined to turn her life around and she started by helping others. She volunteered often for the M.U.S.T. Ministries to help set up their clothing shop for the homeless and the children's center. She helped cooked their meals. She helped do their laundry. She wanted to go into a field helping others. She would have changed at least one person's life, for the better, when they thought there was no more hope. She didn't show up last Thursday. She died.
In the months before she was killed, 21-year-old Anke Furber had been acting scared and she seemed to know she was in danger. Several days after Furber's charred remains were discovered in a small vineyard in Norcross, Anke's mom, Ria, found a note in Anke's desk at home in Marietta. In it, Anke seemed to foreshadow her own death. She wrote, "My parents would surely grieve the loss of their wonderful daughter whose craziness would soon lead to her slaughter". Ria isnt sure exactly when the note was written, but believes it was written in a close time frame to the actual murder.
At 22 years old, Levi had goals and ambitions of being a business owner, a husband and a father. He loved his family and friends with everything in him and would do anything for you. His shyness and manners we're a shining attribute to who he was. Unfortunately, Levi befriended someone who for nearly three years took advantage of his kindness and when asked to leave his home, he killed him. If he would have just walked out the door as asked, Levi would still be here today. We'll never know all the wonderful things that Levi would have accomplished, but we know he was a "Friend" till the end.
Ephraim was 21 yrs old when he prematurely transitioned to the other side. He was a very warm hearted young man. And was always available to help friends and family. As his cousin Ben said about him: "You can lay a 1,000. on the table and know completely that Ephraim would have never taken it". He spent most of his days at Antique World in Clarence , NY which was owned and operated by his Uncle. That was my sons world. A world he will no longer be able to participate in. He is sorely missed by his family and friends.
Mark suffered a brain injury at the age of 19 the night of a high school prom. Mark died at the age of 25. Life was hard for Mark, he lived an aphasic life. Mark struggled to relearn his alphabet and to speak again. Neuro rehab, drug rehab, jails, institutions and death. Mark was disabled and a fighter all at the same time. College, heavy equipment operator, volunteering were all part of these six years. Mark loved kids and wished he had one. Due to the selfish reasoning of his so called friends, Mark will never be able to achieve his dreams that he fought so hard for. Mark's struggle is over !! PEACE..........
His friends describe him as a kind, warm hearted, full of energy, always smiling, and a very silly young man. They also said that whenever Sean walked into a room that he had the ability lighting up the room because he was full of life and energy! He loved his dad, his mom, and his sister very much. He had a very special bond with his great grandma Efford and his great aunt Charlene whom also up in heaven with him. A warm hug from Sean was just another way that he showed his affection to his family and friends
When Cayte was in the middle school she was on the track team, she was a cheerleader for the Nor-Roc Vikings, she was on a soccer team, and she loved attending the dances at the Sad Cafe. When she went to high school, all of those activities stopped. The sad reason was because she was too old. All the kids have, once they reach high school, are the woods and the homes of friends when the parents are at work. If she had activities to do after school when she went to high school, maybe this wouldn't have happened.
From her birth to her passing Katty touched so many lives. Not only did her family have the joy of watching her grow from a 6 pound baby girl to a beautiful young woman, but so many others did as well. The lives she touched are too many to fathom. Her beauty and grace preceded her where ever she went. Her heart was made of fine gold and she cared for others always before herself. She was not just special to all of us but to the Lord who saw fit to call her home at such a young age. Her mansion was ready! When we think of Katty now we all can be at peace because we know she is with her Lord, never to face this harsh world we live in day to day. She is with us always when we remember her smile, her touch, and her kind words. We all had the pleasure of being touched by an ANGEL!
We want our son's name to be Remembered and to bring hope and joy out of something that has been the darkest and heartbreaking days of our families life. JP was very out spoken and we have decided to be that way on this site and to be his voice about the drug companies and the public official's that sit back and do nothing. If we could save one person from what our family had to go Through and is still going Through, it would be all worth it We will not stop until the truth gets out. We want his memory to live on.
Time has gone by so quickly and it seems like we haven't seen your face in forever. Our hearts are broken, our tears flow so freely and our souls feel empty. Michael, you left us with so many happy memories but the memories can never take your place. We know you and your uncle Sam are saving a place for those who cherished you the most.
Two weeks before he died, Chuck called me on the phone. He was excited to tell me he was joining the National Guard. He had begun to think about being a History Teacher. He planned to attend school after basic training. He also mentioned a new girlfriend. He was pretty crazy about her but wanted to give things a little more time before making her "meet the parents". Still, we made plans to meet for lunch once July wound down. He thought we might all get together and told me not to worry, he had a job and would help pay the check. The first time I met the young lady he was so crazy about was as she cried herself senseless over his casket. She laid a broken heart chain and necklace across his hands. She wore the mating half around her slender neck. Her courage in court helped to solidify the deal that sent a drug dealer to prison. I hope she, and Chuck's other friends, make the right decision and swear off drug use so we may never see their faces on these pages.
Everyone ever touched by Miranda. This will be a tribute to the life she lived. She was the most remarkable and inspirational woman I have ever known. I was in awe of my own daughter. Even as her mother, her beauty took my breath away, and as she walked this earth from her crawling stages to adulthood her beauty from the inside amazed me. Miranda loved about every living thing and each friend she had she made her relationship with them special and unique.
Jamie was a very loving son, brother, grandson, nephew, boyfriend and friend.. Most importantly he was the best father anyone could have asked for.. Even though he was only 16 when he was taken away from us from his so called friend, he did everything for his daughter and mother of his daughter  that he had asked to marry him when he turns 18.. Jamie was the type of kid that would take his shirt off his back for anyone that needs it..  Jamie died on April 23, 2008.. If only his so called friend (29 yrs old), his mother and the other people at the home called 911 instead of waiting 3 hours, he would still be here with us today.. Jamie's dad passed away Nov 2005 and he had a hard time dealing with loosing his father and could not believe he was gone.. Well now Jamie is at home with his dad..Until we meet again... I am proud of you my son..Love you always and forever, Mommy
Kaylin Marie Mathews was born on a Tuesday March 1, 1988. Kaylin was my oldest child and my only daughter. She could play the piano, guitar, and drums and loved to sing. She had been "spinning records" the last few years and loved to mix music. She had been working as a d.j. at the time of her death and was very good. Kaylin was an only child for 71/2 years. She has one brother and one sister. She was a talented writer. She made jewelry and she could draw. There was nothing that my baby couldn't do, if she wanted to. Kaylin was left to die in a ravine on June 30, 2008. She was found on July 1, 2008. Her date of death is listed as a Tuesday July 1, 2008. She was 20 years old. I miss her every second of every day. The world lost an amazing talent and an amazing young woman. I lost a part of my heart.
R.J. was truly a blessing in our lives. He was the kind of son that most parents only dream of having. He always respected and obeyed his parents and never got in trouble. RJ was never in trouble in his life RJ always called home to let us know where he was and when he would be home. When he was missing and we couldn't reach him on his cell phone, we knew immediately something terrible was wrong. This is a nightmare that no parent should have to go through and we are living it. Our concern is not what we are going through, but what our son had to go through in his final moments of life.
William Michael Grandchamp better known as Billy, was born Nov 7,1979. HE was a only child. Billy had many friends. Billy often told his friends that his MOM was his best friend. Billy liked to collect sports attire like jerseys and sports caps.Everything he wore had to match. He was meticulous with his clothing, car, and home. Although, Billy had no children of his own he loved children. He told me his greatest wish was to find a good girl and settle down and have a family. That seemed to be very important to him. Even at a young age he had a gift with children. Billy's friends have always commented on how good he was with their children and how their children loved him. Billy was loved by so many people. He had over 800 friends and family members at his wake. Billy will be greatly missed by all his family and friends.
Chase lived life spontaneously with the freedom of a butterfly – a free spirit & soul – no one could hold him down, except his baby girl. She was his LIFE. There wasn’t anything he wouldn’t do for her, including getting clean. Chase was clean 1.5 yrs, after 6 months in residential rehab in New Orleans, continued with NA meetings, substance abuse group counseling, and sought out a Navy recruiter who told him all he would have to do to be eligible. He seemed to be on his way, until he fell off the wagon 12 days out of jail. Turning to heroin again to deal with stress was the mistake of his life. “Chase’s Story” is shared with you on his main page. Thanks for taking time to read it. Sincere and heartfelt thanks to the FDLFD Family for taking us under their wings. “They will sing me to them, and I will hear.” ~RIP Chase~4evrYng~1985-2009
Katelynn Lillian Porter, 16, of West Elgin, was killed in a car crash on Dunborough Rd. in Elgin County. “In loving memory of Katelynn Porter. 12/12/09. 9:40 p.m.” is written between two hearts on the roadside memorial, a makeshift cross. Porter was a student at West Elgin secondary school, where officials are trying to come to grips with the news of her death, especially so close to Christmas.
Tony passed away 10 days after his 16th birthday. He asked permission to spend the night at his friends and I told him yes. I told him" I love you" and he replied "I love you too Mom. Tony was the kid who wanted to make everyone laugh. He had such a wonderful sense of humor and a big heart. He would talk to his friends for hours trying to help them solve their problems. He was a loving big brother, and a wonderful son. He would help you with anything without even being asked. Tony was an extremely intelligent child. He was always placed in advanced classes. A week before he passed we received a letter from Columbine informing us that Tony was nominated to participate in their advanced English Program. He had a gift for writing stories.
She loved all things technical and mechanical with her older brother Ian and fashion and decorating days with her older sister Genevieve. She loved Gothic country art, the workings of the human body, video games, driving and her new tattoo machine. She loved swimming and surfing. She loved all things living and loved her dog Timpleton and her parrot Thermopolis. She had a strong heart and soul, was an independent and progressive thinker, open minded and a will power like no one else. Her favorite place to go was Barnes and Noble.
Vivianna Satterfield was 15 years old! Vivi was the type of young lady that put other people in front of herself. She would always say "Peace and Love".
Kelli Laine Lewis is my only daughter. Kelli died when she was 18 after attending a party hosted by 3 adults who offered a $5.00 entry fee to come and drink all you wanted. A pretty tempting offer for teens not old enough to buy alcohol.
Growing up – she had it all. She was smart and witty - she could come up with a jovial comeback in almost any conversation or situation. She wShe was smart and witty - she could come up with a jovial comeback in almost any conversation or situation. She was always photographing everything and always laughing. She had an infectious laugh, loud and squeaky, but incredibly endearing. Taylor was a huge fan of Tyler Perry’s Madea. She owned every play and knew every word to every gospel song in the plays. She would sing them at the top of her lungs to anyone that would listen. as always photographing everything and always laughing. She had an infectious laugh, loud and squeaky, but incredibly endearing.
He went out THE FIRST TIME to celebrate being "LEGAL" with a creep he considered a friend (even though we warned him this guy was not a true friend). My son did not drive so he was picked up about ten thirty. Even when it was obvious my son was having difficulties this creep brought him to his own house , which is 4 houses away for a few hours, and dropped him off here at home in the middle of the night WITHOUT KNOCKING OR CALLING OR WAKING US UP. We found Ben in his bed the next morning when we tried to wake him.

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Louisiana News:



Murder by drug dealing charge reviving
Prosecutors turn to little-known law

Tuesday, December 27, 2005
By Meghan Gordon St. Tammany bureau

When a jury determined earlier this year that Jake Johnson had been murdered, it had seen no weapon. Prosecutors didn't even try to establish intent, and they conceded the victim played a key role in his own death.
Yet the second-degree murder conviction brought the killer the same mandatory life-without-parole sentence handed out routinely to shooters and stabbers. All prosecutors had to establish was that defendant Jeanie Hano, 42, had sold methadone to the 16-year-old victim and that the same pills contributed to his death by overdose.
The conviction in Covington came 18 years after then-state Sen. William Jefferson tacked on a little-noticed amendment to the state's second-degree murder statute, creating a new category of murderer: dealers who peddle deadly drugs.
The obscure statute had been all but ignored by law enforcement before Johnson's death, which resulted in the only known conviction under the statute. But a Kenner woman booked last week in the overdose death of her twin sister joins the recently growing list of defendants arrested under the murder-by-drug-dealing law.
With two similar cases awaiting trial in St. Tammany Parish, and Baton Rouge prosecutors securing two lesser convictions in another overdose-as-murder case, police and lawyers have in the past year given the statute the most attention it has received since it was enacted in 1987. Nevertheless, those who investigate these deaths and lawyers who defend the accused dealers predict that prosecutions under the law will never represent more than a sliver of the state's fatal overdoses.
Police predict convictions will remain low. They say it's often extremely difficult to prove the connection between an overdose victim, the drug that killed him and the person who sold or gave him the substance.
But defense lawyers contend potential juries are responsible for the law's limited exposure in Louisiana courts. They predict jurors are less likely to hand down a murder conviction for an illegal drug sale than they would for a cold-blooded killing.
Take the case of Shannon Morvant, 19, a Nicholls State University student who was found dead in a friend's car Dec. 19, 2004, after a night of partying.
Lafourche Parish sheriff's investigators alleged that Hardy Ledet, 19, had likely passed out quadruple-strength Xanax pills at the party, and they geared up for an arrest under the second-degree murder statute. They interviewed more than 50 people and awaited a coroner's report to make the law's required link between a seller and the drug determined to be the cause of death.
"We literally uncovered every conceivable stone that existed," Sheriff Craig Webre said.

Unable to use charge
Yet the toxicology report revealed fatal levels of Clozapine, a powerful treatment for schizophrenia and a drug not found in the state's list of controlled dangerous substances. Unable to bring the murder charge against Ledet, prosecutors could do little more than have his three-year probation from a previous drug charge revoked.
"This is the real tragedy, beyond the loss of Shannon Morvant, is that Hardy Ledet in my estimation should be spending the rest of his life incarcerated," Webre said. "He was offering drugs to anyone and everyone, and providing them chemicals that were being misrepresented and having an indifferent attitude about it."
Beyond the difficulty of investigating murder-by-drug-dealing, the cases face challenges once they enter a courtroom, especially when the line blurs between the overdose victim and the alleged perpetrator.
In February, Baton Rouge prosecutors brought Heather Smith, 26, to trial on second-degree murder charges in the Aug. 25, 2001, death of her best friend, Marsha Fisher, 32. Both women wanted to purchase Ecstasy, but Fisher couldn't cash her paycheck that night. Randall Corbett, 34, Fisher's boyfriend, cashed his own check and gave Smith $255 to buy 15 tablets, according to court records. Hours later, he found Fisher dead in her bedroom.
Prosecutor Darwin Miller said Smith's actions to buy the drugs, then deliver them to Fisher's apartment, fit the murder statute. He said Corbett's actions of distributing some of the pills to Fisher also amounted to homicide.
When jury selection began in Smith's case, potential jurors struggled with the law that turned a consensual night of drug use into murder.
"You should have heard one of the ladies on the jury," said defense attorney Francis "Bo" Rougeou. "She says, 'You mean to tell me this lady took these drugs on her own?' Yes. 'Nobody forced them down her throat?' No. 'And she died?' Yes. 'So why are we here?' "
The woman ended up on the jury. But Rougeou never learned how the panel would have decided the case. Smith took a 10-year plea deal midway through the trial. "She said, 'I could do this much time, but I can't do life,' " Rougeou said.
At Corbett's trial in October, jurors convicted him of the lesser charges of negligent homicide and possession with intent to deliver Ecstasy. A judge sentenced him to five years in prison.
Miller conceded that the biggest challenge to prosecuting murder-by-drug-dealing is jury nullification, when jurors don't follow the law because they disagree with it.
"The victim in my case actively desired to take the drug that ultimately caused her death," Miller said. "She wanted it. She wanted to buy it. She just couldn't cash a check. . . . This isn't a situation where the victim didn't know she was being drugged."

A matter of perspective
Eric Sterling, founder of the Criminal Justice Policy Foundation, said the quandary jurors grapple with in these cases is the result of state and federal legislators racing in the 1980s to elevate drug crimes to the status of violent crimes. He said that from a criminal justice perspective, most drug sales that result in overdoses don't compare to cold-blooded killings.
"Is the seller at fault for selling something that the buyer knows is risky to ingest?" Sterling said. "They have to take the action of seeking it out and buying it and ingesting it."
What sets the sole conviction in St. Tammany apart from the scant other overdose deaths prosecuted under Louisiana's murder statute is Jake Johnson's age, 16.
Chad Falgout, 37, whom police said initiated the methadone sale to the teen, accepted a plea bargain in September to avoid following his former girlfriend, Hano, to prison for life. A judge sentenced him to 15 years for manslaughter, which First Assistant District Attorney Houston Gascon said his office accepted, given the greater difficulty connecting Falgout to the methadone that plunged Johnson into a coma from which he never recovered.
Sterling said that, as in other murder cases, the victim's identity plays a powerful role in what charges are brought and what sentences are sought.
"Overdose deaths are often not sympathetic cases to bring, because very often the victims are longtime drug users who are looked down upon by police and prosecutors," Sterling said. "But teenagers taking pills, dying in the flower of their youth, are much more sympathetic."
With both prosecutions in the Fisher death concluded, even Miller conceded that the Baton Rouge case had a finer moral line than Johnson's methadone overdose.
"You certainly have a profiteer in that case," Miller said. "You've got somebody who's acting on greed, who's taking advantage of someone who has a weakness . . . making a poor decision."

Twin faces charge
But when Jefferson Parish jurors consider the Kenner murder case, they'll have to grapple with perhaps the toughest decision of all when sorting out sympathy for the victim or the defendant.
Kenner police said Rebecca A. Doussan, 26, violated the murder-by-drug-dealing law on Dec. 6, 2004, after injecting cocaine with her twin, Rachel Smith. Police said Doussan sought out more cocaine from a drug supplier the same night, gave the drugs to her sister and left her in an apartment alone. The next morning, Doussan found Smith dead, submerged in a bathtub behind a locked bathroom door.
Police also issued an arrest warrant for Joseph Michael Bruno II, 42, alleged to be the cocaine supplier, who faces second-degree murder charges.
To Jessica Dabdoub, 30, the victim and defendant are equals: both sisters taken out of her life. Unlike most families of violent crime victims, Dabdoub's relatives have no plans to support prosecutors' efforts.
"Even if it wasn't my sister, she chose what she did," Dabdoub said of her deceased younger sister. "None of us blame Rebecca."




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Made by Danielle McCarthy's Parents

We Are the Broken

 We are the broken

Our lives have changed

Our children taken,

We're filled with pain.

 

We look to you

To show you care.

At first you support us

Then you're not there.

 

We see you out

You see us too

You avoid us

That hurts too.

 

What did we do

For you to leave?

Our children died

Now we grieve.

 

We put on masks

When you are near

We scream inside

But you don't hear.

 

You tell us, "Move on.

Get on with your life."

We simply nod

Your words piercing like a knife.

 

We long to say our child's name

The one you want unspoken

So you don't call because you're afraid

Of we, who are the broken.

 

By: Kim Lasater

Mother of Kaylin Mathews

Copyright 2009