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.