Dymia...

This is Dymia Woody. Dymia was just 8 years old when her life on this earth ended.


The person responsible for taking her life was 14 years old at the time of the crime.

A day after her mother reported her missing Dymia's body was found in a vacant trailer. The coroner's findings were that she died of asphyxiation. She was kidnapped, raped, and murdered by a 14 year old boy. The boy subsequently put her body in a closet in that abandoned trailer. As the search for the missing girl mounted, the killer even pretended to search for Dymia with the search parties. All the while knowing the truth about her fate and where she was.



This past week in Greenville, SC where the case will be tried, it was determined that the killer would be charged as an adult. The reasoning, the crime was far more adult than that of a 14 year old, and the likelihood of the perpetrator being rehabilitated in the 5 years it will take before he would have to be released is highly unlikely.

The courts will prosecute him as an adult. Under the possible prosecution on the table he could end up serving anywhere from 30 years to life in prison. The family, is reported to be relieved the case will move to adult court.

The 8 year old girl looking at you with those beautiful, trusting eyes is no longer on this earth. Her parents, family, and other loved ones have to live everyday with the reality that she is no longer here, because of the actions of another person. The justice system cannot offer her life back, it cannot ease that pain, it can only offer them the comfort of knowing the individual responsible for the kidnapping, rape, and brutal murder of an 8 year old girl will spend his time in prison and not have the opportunity to bring that kind of pain to any other families.

Danni...

I'd like to introduce you all to Danni. She was the oldest of three children in a happy, loving home in Allentown, Pa. She hoped to someday to work with animals, perhaps as a Veterinarian. She loved her parents, her siblings, and the freedom to go outside and play with her friends, always adhering to the curfew her parents had set. Then one day, she didn't come home when she was expected.


It had been only 11 days earlier that her family had celebrated her 12th birthday. She was a 6th grader at a local school. She was at that age, you remember, when you're teetering on the edge between childhood and your teenage years. She had the whole world in front of her for the taking...

But, then she missed curfew. She had checked in once, and was expected home sharply at 5:30pm. Her parents knew immediately that something was wrong. It's a sense parents have about their children. If you have children, you know what I'm talking about. When she was two hours late, they formed their own search party and tried to locate her, while waiting for the police to arrive. In what had to seem utterly surreal, her family searched frantically for her, while asking her friends if they had seen her. The stories were all the same, she had been seen with a 17 year old teenager from the neighborhood. When Danni's father questioned the boy, he flatly lied to the man's face, telling him he hadn't seen her for hours.

After hours of waiting and wondering, with police helicopters and dogs all around, Dawn and Darryl got the news no parent should ever have to hear. The police needed a photograph of Danni, because they thought they had found her in a nearby river and needed to identify her body. What followed were weeks, months, and even years of disbelief and pain. They buried their 12 year old girl, and tried to find a way to make it through the days.

The case is one of the most infamous in their hometown of Allentown. The District Attorney worked closely with the family to provide them the support and justice they deserved. The prosecution was actually planning on proceeding with a death penalty charge when a plea was struck for life in prison for the perpetrator. This sentence, was agreed to by Danni's family in good faith. With an understanding that this killer would never set foot outside of prison. It is incomprehensible that a contemplation of retroactive sentencing could allow this individual to go free and put Danni's family through more pain.

The killer, it turns out, was the teenager Danni's Dad spoke with during the search. He had plotted in great detail exactly what he would do to Danni on that fateful day. He sent a younger boy to the door to see if Danni could play, knowing he would not be able to call on her himself. The killer, you see, was 17 years old, no parent was going to let her go off with him. But, by sending the younger boy, he was able to lure her to the playground without arousing suspicion.

In preparation for the day he took Danni's life, this 'child' had put great thought in to what would happen. He had created a list entitled "23 things to do to a girl in the woods". The list included among other things : beat her, rape her, dress her back up, kill her, and throw her in the river. It breaks my heart to tell you he succeeded on completing all the tasks he had compiled in that list on that day.

The tragic story of Danni is one I, nor you, should ever forget. This vibrant, beautiful child was brutally taken from this world and her loved ones by a teenager. There are plenty of reports and studies that tell you that a teenager isn't fully developed or able to be held accountable for their actions. How can we, any of us, live in a world where a psychological theory on child development could ever weigh more than the life of Danni?

Any consideration of changes to Juvenile sentencing laws that is not prospective only, will make it likely that Danni's family will have to continue to go back to the court system to fight for the justice they thought they had already received.

I find more and more, that people tell me that the cases I am familiar with are 'extreme' and not the focus of the sentencing opponents. I am fairly certain, as I meet more families like Danni's that the 'extreme' is a lot more common than any of you would like to believe. If you believe that a teenager, any teenager, is capable of such a brutal, premeditated act, you have to accept it could happen to your family too. It's a lot easier to just believe it is a rare and unique situation. I pray you are right, but I beg you to remember Danni when you contemplate life without parole for juvenile offenders.

About Victim's of Juvenile Life without Parole

Welcome!
I recently heard the group of people who follow this issue referred to as 'the club noone wants to belong to'. That is such an appropriate description for the people who are concerned with JLWOP, probably on both sides of the issue.

In the United States, there are a ~ 2200 people serving life sentences in prisons for crimes they committed as children. The focus on this issue has been increasing as both information becomes more readily available online, and human rights groups get involved in the discussion. The movement to parole some of these people and alter legislation that allows this type of sentence for juveniles is in full swing. In the next session of the United States Supreme Court, they will argue life sentences without parole for 2 different Juvenile offenders. As that case begins to take shape, it is with a touch of sadness and a sense of purpose that the people who lost loved ones to those juvenile offenders have to stand up and fight back.

If you search the web for JLWOP, you will find all sorts of sources about why it is cruel, unusual, and unjust to incarcerate a child for the length of their life. They were just kids, didn't we all make mistakes, don't we all deserve a second chance? I think it's fair to say that most of us DID make mistakes as a child we are truly sorry for and would like to take back, but you can't take it back. Now, imagine that the 'mistake' the person made was to take another person's life? All the remorse and regret in the world will not undo that act. The lives that are touched and destroyed by your actions in that case are never the same. In theory, a person can be rehabilitated, ask for forgiveness, and learn from their mistakes. But, when a crime is so heinous that it was eligible for this type of sentence in the first place, the concept of justice requires that the perpetrator serve their sentence, as a means of serving that justice, which is one of the few things victims in these scenarios have left to hold on to.

Our missions here is a simple one, but one that has not really been served in the age of the internet. For many of these offenders for whom you are asked to have mercy there are dead parents, siblings, children, and loved ones. Those people, the true victims, cannot speak for themselves. They did not get a second chance at life. They are gone, often leaving loved ones who try desperately to cling to their positive memories while attempting to forget the tragedy of their deaths. What is intended here, is to provide a voice to those victims. To put a face and some humanity on those victims. When you read the human rights studies, you will see the numbers, with the crimes diminished to a statistical measure. What I ask, is that you realize that with each of those numbers in a chart, there is a person, who had dreams, hopes, and loved ones that is no longer on this earth.

If there is a need to change legislation regarding sentincing laws, there needs to be both consideration for the crime on an individual basis and those changes should be prospective. Any changes to any sentincing laws that are retrospective would shatter many lives that have already been pieced together.

Starting with my next post, I'll introduce you to some of the victims of the folks serving JLWOP. You can put a face and a name and the circumstances to those statistics you see in reports. I'll also try to keep you updated on issues or news stories that talk about the issue.

If you haven't done so, please visit The National Organization of Victims of Juvenile Lifers It is a great place to meet other family members who lost loved ones to Juveniles.

Thanks for reading. It is truly my belief that together we can make a difference. Please contact me if you would like further information or would like to have your loved one profiled here.