Andrew's Legacy

On an icy February afternoon, in front of a group of witnesses, Andrew was attacked on his way home from the school bus. He was jumped from behind and beaten while another child — an upstander boy — ran to our front door, pounding, and alerting us to the trouble Andrew was in. As I ran barefoot through the icy snow to rescue him, I was shocked to see that his attacker was a girl. She left my broken boy on the sidewalk with bloody scrapes on his forehead, both hands, and both knees, as well as bruises on his arms and torso.

I immediately reached out to the school, the bus garage, and eventually the police. No one wanted to help us. I was aware of some bullying issues at the bus stop and on bus rides, and I thought it had already been addressed. Andrew had hidden the bully girl's identity from me because of embarrassment — she had beaten up and bullied many children, and he wasn't sure how I would react.

Andrew confided in me that he chose to forgive her before his wounds had even healed. That made me proud of him. He said it saddened him to think about the brokenness in her heart and life that would lead her to do such terrible things to others.

Months passed. Then on July 13, 2009, kind and loving 11-year-old Andrew went outside to play with neighbors and never returned home. He was last seen alive in the undeveloped neighborhood park with the same abusive and mean 9½-year-old neighborhood girl.

We were never given clear answers about what happened to Andrew by the Toledo Police detective assigned to the case. The justice system failed my son, and it failed the girl too — she got away with her actions by telling stories that didn't match the physical evidence left behind.