Alright first of all, lets just get the story straight. Wendy Jennings was a sophmore at Norcross High School, and Jacob Miller was a junior at Norcross. The race, which started at the CVS on Peachtree Parkway, was between Wendy and Jacob, and Susan Osley. The car carrying Wendy and Jacob was going around a curve and her wheel went slightly off the road. At such high speeds, this cause the car to flip over the median and land on 61 year old Julia Burns' car. Jacob Miller, who was not wearing a seat belt, was ejected from the car and landed between the two vehicles. He was nearly decapitated and died instantly. Just last year, Wendy was given a sentence of 5 years in jail and 10 years probation, and Susan was given a sentence of 4 years in jail with 11 years probation. Among the many charges were reckless driving and a double count of vehicular homicide. Someone had commented on Wendy's life post jail but this was clearly a rumor being that she has just recently began her sentence. You may also be interested to know that Susan recently had a baby.
Of course these are just the facts. For most of you reading this, the facts are all that matter. For others however, this is a personal and tragic story; one that is not easy to talk nor write about. I knew Jacob, Wendy, and their families extremely well through ways I would rather not say.
I noticed that many people seem to believe that the sentences for the girls was not harsh enough. In response to this I would like you to think for a moment...what would it be like to have to live with the fact that you killed your boyfriend and an innocent bystander? What would it be like to have to live in the small city where everyone, even your best friends, knows you as the girl who killed their brother or son or friend? How would it feel to have to drive by the spot where your car stole two lives everyday? Could jail really be worse? It seems to me that being away from all of this would be a relief. However, nothing can ever relieve any of the pain these girls will always have with them. They will have to wake up every morning for the rest of their lives knowing what they did. They will have to fall asleep each night thinking about all of the lives they have affected. There will be no escape from these emotional weights, no parole, no sentence. I know if it were me, I would gladly add 10 years to my jail time for even the possibility of being able to start over. So for all of you who think these girls got it easy and that the won't learn their lesson, put yourself in their shoes and imagine walking a day as Wendy Jennings or Susan Osley.
I would also like to point out that in the trial, the family of Jacob Miller testified on the behalf Wendy. They understood what it would be like for her, because they too would have to live everyday wondering what their son's life would have been like.
At Jacob's funeral, Mr. Miller spoke about how he would never know what Jacob would have looked like walking across the stage at his graduation. He will never know where Jacob would have gone to college. He will never be able to watch his son get married or know how many children he would have had. At the funeral Jacob's sister, Jessee, read a letter she had written after the accident. She wrote this letter sitting on Jacob's bed in his room. Jessee said that she could still smell his cologne and picture where they played when they were young.
For anyone who knew Jacob or Wendy or Susan or Julia Burns, this crash was more than a few reckless teenagers. Everyone makes mistakes and the victims of this tragic March day cannot be held responsible for the actions of all reckless teenagers. Do not judge them. I am sure most of you reading this story can thing of at least one time where had you been slightly less lucky, could have ended up in an equally tragic situation.
I hope all of you remember that there is always another side to every story and that no one, no matter how old, no matter how young, no matter how educated or ignorant, is invincible.
