is sometimes a scary, scary place! On a scary night in 1993, Jennifer Ertman and Elizabeth Pena were scared as they scurried home through White Oak Park (not far at all from Chez Ginger), scared to death of what their parents would do if they didn't make it home in time for their curfew. They didn't know just how close they were to death, until they were unfortunate enough to randomly find themselves in the path of Peter Anthony Cantu and his rag-tag band of sickling thugs, who captured, raped, and beat the girls to their bloody deaths. Miss Ginger remembers watching the television news, with stories first about the search for the girls' whereabouts, and then, after the bodies were found, stories about the search for their killers.Since that time, the rag-tag group has been captured and punished- some, not old enough to face adult trials, will be a burden on society the rest of their lives. Two others have already been executed by lethal injection. Cantu was executed tonight. No family members fought for an appeal, or asked for a pardon. No one cared, except for the victims families, who showed up to see another page close on the sad drama that has consumed their lives.
The story that invokes this post is not the scary part. Miss G has lived in Texas for over 24 years. She's used to hearing about executions on the the news. (Cantu is the 16th in Texas this year). She understands that she will not always agree with her fellow constituents. She's not even 100% sure where she stands on the death penalty. On the one hand, it IS murder. On the other hand, why should her tax dollars be spent buying bread and water for some scumbag loser who will never amount to anything when it could be spent to help improve the life of a victim of poverty who who may be willing to work hard to make it in a system that seems to work against them?
The part that scares Miss Ginger is the readers' reactions to the story, as indicated by the blog responses to the Houston Chronicle article recounting the story. Read them. Read them and weep, dear reader. Weep for humanity!
