(Based
on the article titled “Death of a Dream” in the Toronto Sun on Apr. 10, 2008)
She
lay there prone, her body broken, twisted, and bloody, face down and barely
conscious on the front lawn where the group had been standing. As if hitting her once was not enough,
however, the boyfriend had then backed up over her prone body, where the tire
marks of his car remained. This is how
Melody’s friends and family would remember her, as bloody pulp on a spot where
the grass had once grown so green.
For
as far back as Melody Davis could remember, her childhood had been filled with
endless turmoil, both physical and mental, distress, and sadness. She had been cruelly shunted around from
foster home to foster home as a child, had lived with her grandmother in
Windsor briefly, and finally united with her mother, Irena, and her younger
brother, Johnny. They lived together in
downtown Hamilton. To be sure, the part
of town that they lived in was far from ideal, full of crack heads and hookers
living in the streets. But, they had
grown used to their squalid surroundings and accepted their environment to some
extent.
But,
she was determined to have a better future for herself and her family. Melody was very protective of her family,
especially her younger brother, and for this reason, was resolved to get them
out of this godforsaken neighbourhood, one of the toughest in Hamilton.
Melody
had dreams of becoming a professional singer.
She had this incredible potential, for she had the voice of an
angel. People loved hearing her
sing. All she had ever wanted was a
chance to audition for the show “Canadian Idol” after finishing her high school
education. Melody had been involved in
karaoke for the past 8 years. She loved
it and was very good at it. She had also
been involved in a school musical called “Aida” last year, which had received
rave reviews from the audience. But,
until recently, she had never thought that she would be able to make a career
of singing professionally. All that
changed after numerous people of all ages and walks of life started telling her
how wonderful she sounded and how much they enjoyed hearing her sing.
However,
it did not help her cause that she was a rather big girl. Because she was sometimes ridiculed due to
her larger size, she had had to take on the image of teenage toughness to hide
her sensitivity. However, it was only a
veneer that covered her genuinely funny and caring nature underneath. People around the neighbourhood who knew her
well and cared for her were drawn to her deeply empathic nature. They knew what Melody was really like as a person,
the ambitions she had for herself, and what she wanted to achieve in life. And, they wanted to help her to achieve those
ambitions if they could.
But,
some not-so-nice people, who were also the Davis’ neighbours, had been busy
creating an atmosphere of ongoing animosity, largely due to a dispute that had
arisen between a woman who lived in the next building and young Johnny Davis.
This woman, a known crack head, had previously assaulted Johnny who was
only 12 at the time. She had slapped him
hard once across the face for doing something silly (picking a flower from her
garden) that most people would have considered a petty thing to get upset over,
but his behaviour had angered her boyfriend.
The incident had caused an ongoing feud between the woman, her live-in
boyfriend, and the police who insisted on checking up on her activities
regularly. But, no legal action had ever
been taken against her for the previous assault on Johnny.
Finally,
a group of teens that had gathered at the Davis’ place decided to confront the
woman themselves on the front lawn of her building. They demanded that she and her boyfriend
leave the neighbourhood for good. This
completely enraged her boyfriend. The
man then got into his car, started the engine, gunned it a few times, and then
drove the car straight into the midst of the group of teens standing on the
front lawn, which also included Melody and Johnny Davis. Johnny was slightly hurt (his arm was
broken), but Melody took the full brunt of the car’s impact. Her body flew through the air and landed in a
broken mass of blood and bones. As if
that weren’t enough, he backed up over her body again. This act of complete
callousness would ultimately cause her untimely death. Meanwhile, Melody’s
blood flowed freely, mixing in with the dark earth, making it even darker. And, deep tire ruts on the ground had
stripped the grass completely off the part of the lawn at the point of
impact. Melody’s screams kept
reverberating throughout the neighbourhood, long after she had been hit,
constantly reminding everyone of the violence that Melody had met with that
day. There was no doubt in anyone’s mind
that the woman’s boyfriend was responsible.
Yet,
Melody Davis and her family had been so close to finally leaving this place
just before her untimely death. Just an
hour previously, a moving van had been parked in front of the Davis’ building,
loaded up with their meagre possessions, almost ready to take off. Now, that move would be impossible for
Melody. Melody’s dream to become a
professional singer was gone, along with her wish to live with her family
peacefully elsewhere. How could it
happen that a 16 year old girl with such great vocal potential, having such
great hopes for a better life elsewhere, would now never have that chance to
realize her dreams?
Her
friends, mourning her loss, built a shrine on the site of her death, filled
with fresh field flowers, cellophane-wrapped roses, teddy bears, heartfelt
cards, and candles that had burned out long ago. This shrine kept Melody’s memory alive for
those who loved her and reminded them of the tragic event that had cost Melody
her young life.
The
woman’s boyfriend, who was 25 years old, was arrested that same evening by
police and charged with second degree murder.
Due to the fact that there were plenty of eye witnesses who were both
willing and able to testify against him virtually guaranteed his
conviction. Melody’s friends and family
were determined to see that her killer was apprehended and punished for his
crime. Still, that particular
neighbourhood remains rough to this day, and the police visit it frequently to
round up the drug users and hookers regularly.
Unfortunately, in downtown Hamilton, criminals who somehow manage to
escape arrest often just change locations temporarily, and go to other nearby neighbourhoods
to “hang out” until things cool down for them.
Today, as luck would have it, the criminal responsible for Melody’s
death was arrested and would be punished.
published by Authorhouse, copyright 2011, Anne Shier. All rights reserved.
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