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The sad, short life of Acia Johnson

This is a great story. And a very depressing one.

DJDiva is outraged:

... Where were these children's grandparents? How could they let their drug addict, criminal, scum bag children continue to have custody of their children after DSS placed the kids in the grandparents custody? Where was DSS all this time? But more to blame is the parents, grandparents, and neighbors that KNEW what was going on! ...

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Comments

they were getting over a grand a month for pretending they had the kids. so.

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I read the story in full this morning, its a heart breaker. If only life were like the movies, you can just see the happy ending where she scores the winning basket and hugs her coach.
Its too bad the writer seems bent on making everyone to blame, the girl lived a hard life but ultimately she died in fire set by a woman barely fleshed out in the story. Also if you're going to mention the dad got busted for shoplifting lobsters geesh...

More to the point the girl, as bright as she seemed to be at 14 had not learned about fire safety. It might seem petty in light of the epic sweep of the story but its what would have changed everything. I cant imagine her nare'do well parents teaching her fire safety but a few more school visits from the fired dept or public service ads might have saved these girls.

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More to the point the girl, as bright as she seemed to be at 14 had not learned about fire safety.

I'm having a hard time seeing how fire education would have helped these girls in any way. It is one thing to have a smoke detector go off and execute a evacuation plan, but what would you have her do? Stop, drop, and roll down some flaming stairs? Would they have known to take a chance on a three-floor leap? Explain.

They had no options, as far as I could see. They had no way to get out of there because of the way the fire started - intentionally, ferociously, and blocking the only possible way out save a leap out a window. Her brother got out only because he was awake and on the first floor and had an exit.

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the tone of the article suggests that the girl chose to sit in her closet with her baby sister...that they felt safe there.
There have been many reports about people in fires becoming disoriented, and entering closets because they think that's the way out.
It's a heart-wrenching article, but there is a lot of fantasy in it.
Talking about how horrible and sneaky the parents were takes away from the face that DSS dropped the ball, that the school's mandated reporters were'nt paying attention, etc.

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Whats to explain? She should have remained at the window, thrown the baby and followed instructions from the firefighters. What you want your kid to do? Nobody ever died because of too much fire safety education.

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i recently had my first child.i was and still am amazed at the amount of effort and energy involved in taking care of him.my wife and i wonder about all the babies that dont get all the love and attention that we give our child.it would be almost impossible for someone to care as much as we do for this beautiful child.how people can have babies and then let things like this happen in their lives boggles my mind.i will probably cry tonight when i look at my baby boy and think of poor acia and her little sister dying in that closet.everyone in life deserves a chance and these poor babies never really got one.

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But ... but .. weren't they clearly much better off in a nuclear family with male and female parents and elder relatives around than they would have been with a highly qualified and vetted single parent or pair of gay parents?

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Didn't you read the article? Living in her nuclear family situation, she was more mature than her own parents, helping raise her sister, getting good grades, seemingly socially well-adjusted, had her pick of going to two magnet schools...

In fact, it was her mother's gay lover who went insane and started the fire!

This story is just about the anti-thesis of being the poster child for gay adoption!

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I actually hadn't realized that gay people are prone to go insane and start fires like this till I heard about this case. I feel better now knowing the dangers of gay people.

It's an interesting take on this story to read it as an advertisement for the stabilizing effects of the nuclear family. I myself see it as proof that being raised by thieving crackheads builds character.

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I have absolutely nothing against gay adoption or other forms of adoption into good homes. I'm all for it.

Swirly is the one who tilted at that windmill. I was just trying to reel her back in from the ledge. She should attach her gay adoption rhetoric to some case where the kid follows in his derelict nuclear family parents' footsteps but his twin brother was adopted by a gay couple and now makes a six-figure salary in the Financial District.

But here we have a very impressive girl whose life was cut short by the gay lover of her mother. It's about the worst case scenario for trying to somehow link "gay adoption" to this story as a lost means of improving this girl's life and not have the whole thing thrown back in your face by every anti-gay adoption advocate (even if they're just as wrong to use the arsonist as an example of gay as Swirly was to use the druggie and thief as an example of nuclear parenting).

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No one is suggesting that kids be kept away from heterosexual couples based on this case. But in your post you are lending legitimacy to the idea that the presence of a crazy lesbian argues against gay adoption. Never mind that a right-wing maniac would make that argument. That's what right-wing maniacs do. Do you yourself think it's a valid argument?

Seems to me that all Swirly is doing is pointing out that as a society we are using the wrong yardstick. That horse has a few more beatings coming.

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I'd bet they didnt' take her away and give her in a new home where she wasn't neglected, used, abused because biology and nuclear family are considered enough.

Oh, has mom and dad - useless, but there. No problems here!

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As a children's librarian, the more I learn about this ...it just makes me sick with sadness

I can't help but feel that just about everyone invlved ought to do jailtime, and many ought to be locked up for the rest of their lives.

The Mom and Dad for sure. Please, these people turned these children's lives into a living hell, and with great intention, sneaking to have another child, and committing great atrocities toward them. They used them for goverment support and free money, and thats what they were to the parents, I think its obvious. Both ought to be locked up for good.

The crazy lover for setting the fire and killing them. Locked up for good.

The grandparent(s?) for allowing the children back into the house of the parents, some jailtime at least. It seems claer to me the modivation was the money each month. And I have heard the son is back in the grandnothers custody! Is DSS Insane? Well, seeing how they handled the rest of this....maybe.

And for the terrible terrible failue of DSS, I can't help but feel at the very least some people neeed to loose their jobs. They obviously can't do them. Was it not obvious enough that this family was beyond saving? That these children should have been taken from the grandparents as soon as it became obvious they were allowing them to live with the parents?

A mess of a tragedy. These poor children. I can't even imagine.

And before I say the following, let me also say I whole heartedly defend and support same sex marriage and parenting. But I don't think any bit of the issue applies here. This is a story of horrific parenting all around, no matter the orientation of these people.

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As A children's librarian, shouldn't you write better?

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It's hard to write in a small box online.

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Normally I ignore misspellings and twisted syntax, but the post set off alarm bells that made me think maybe the poster was not who they purported to be.

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DSS has announced plans to use "stronger language" in future guardianship agreements...

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I thought children were supposed to be protected from strong language, not by it?

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CECE was One of my friends no one knows wat she was really going tho...only of wat they heared he parents cared for her..and she loved her mom and dad...and Bookie and her lil brother Rayond..they had there hard times yea...and i would do anything to help bring her back...it hurts to kno this can happen to one of your friends...i only thought it could happen in the movies...and im only 15..and my lil brother is the same age as bookie....now Acia made me closer to my lil brother..cuz now i understand life and death.. Acia i love u we still did not get to play baksetball aganist eachother to see whos better...but u can say u won!! I LOVE U CECE AND BOOKIE

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This story broke my heart.

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