No Justice for Jada

I've had difficulty this week focusing on the deaths of Michael Jackson and Farrah Fawcett because of a local piece of news that's been unfolding over the last couple of weeks, the tragic culmination of which occurred the same day as the King of Pop's demise. The investigation is ongoing, but this is what we've been told so far:

Jada Justice's parents left their two year old daughter in the care of her cousin, Engelica Castillo and her boyfriend Tim while they went out of town for a couple of days. During some potty training issues, Engelica beat Jada to death, and then placed her in some plastic bags. She and her boyfriend then tried to set fire to Jada's body, but succeeded in burning Tim instead. Then they placed her body in a plastic tote, poured concrete into it, and dumped it in the place where Tim's father had killed his mother and then himself six years earlier. Three days later, Engelica reported Jada missing, claiming to have left her in her car while she went into a convenience store to buy milk and cigarettes. She told police that when she returned to her car a few moments later, Jada was gone.

The search began. The convenience store in question is on my route home from work, and for days, i passed volunteers handing out flyers with Jada's face and description, begging for information and prayers. I felt sad for these people, and for Jada, whom i was losing hope for as time went on.

Engelica has a long history as a troubled child, including drug abuse at an early age, running away from home with older men, and run-ins with the law, including commitment to a mental facility. I wondered what sort of parent would voluntarily leave their child in the care of such a person. I felt that finding Jada alive was probably not going to happen, but i tried to remain hopeful.

Then late Thursday afternoon, news that the Hobart police department had found the burned remains of a toddler broke. Police were sure that it was Jada's body, and were only waiting for forensic confirmation. Over the next couple of days, we learned that while Engelica stuck to her initial story, her boyfriend Tim is the one who told police where to find Jada, and the real events leading up to the little girl's death. He told the police that after they put her in plastic bags, the two of them put her in the car, and went out to buy drugs and got high before attempting to conceal their crime.

I've been incredibly sad since learning that Jada is dead. I can't make sense of the violence someone could do not only to a small child, but a relative. Engelica is the worst kind of thief there is- she's stolen something that can never be repaid. She's stolen seventy five years of triumphs, failures, love. . . she's stolen an entire future, and pieces of the futures of the people who would've shared Jada's experiences with her. A whole life wasted by a complete waste of life.

Engelica will go to jail, and so will Tim, but where's the justice in that? We live in a capital punishment state, and as far as i know, neither will be charged with ultimate punishment. But it doesn't matter- detaining or killing these thieves won't bring Jada back or avenge her. It won't restore missing years or her presence to her family. Where murder is concerned, i don't think the concept of justice exists.