A Kid's Eye View - Part Two

Teen Heads To Prison For Mom's Stabbing Death
Son Claims He Was On 'Mission For God'

PONTIAC, Mich. -- A Rochester Hills teenager who admitted stabbing his mother to death was sentenced Monday to 25 to 37 ½ years in prison.

As part of a plea agreement, Christopher Dankovich, 16, pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the April 24, 2005, death of his mother, Diane Michele Dankovich.

"I don't know what else to say to you," Oakland County Circuit Judge John J. McDonald said in court. "You're a young man, and I feel very sorry for you. I hope you get the help you need."

Christopher Dankovich was 15 when his mother was slain in the family's home. He was arrested at his family's cabin in St. Helen, more than 100 miles north of Rochester Hills.

Authorities have said that Dankovich killed his mother after she confronted him about using the Internet to look at pornography and learn how to make weapons.

Dankovich had withdrawn an earlier guilty plea after McDonald rejected a sentencing deal made between his attorney and the prosecutor. McDonald had said then that he could not agree to a 22 ½- to 34-year prison term for Dankovich, who authorities said stabbed his mother 111 times.

At a hearing last week on Dankovich's mental condition, a psychologist testified that the teen believed he was on "mission for God" to kill people who were threatening children, and the intended targets included pornographers, abortion doctors and U.S. Sen. John Kerry, D-Mass., a former presidential candidate.

Because of his age, reception center processing is expedited to get him to a facility that can address his personal safety in a predatory environment as well as begin to meet his programming needs. I interviewed him this morning to complete his classification and take him one step closer to transfer.

This story has tragedy written all over it. This kid was just that... looking more like 13 than 16, he struck me not as a distant psychopathic killer but as a kid in shock, scared and overwhelmed. What he did was absolutely horrendous, yet nothing happens in a vacuum. I often wonder what pieces, what circumstances, what life events fall into place to trigger such an unfortunate episode... not to find excuses, but to understand.

© Copyright 2006 gentlefootprint. All Rights Reserved.

A Kid's Eye View

***WARNING*** Contains graphic references...

Today I ran across the following statement from a 16 year old boy whose high school principal called one of their "invisible kids," having presented "no behavioral, attendance or grade issues to be on anyone's radar." I will put this in context later, but share it here, in segments, for the purpose of discussion, which could go in a number of directions. Does this stir anyone's thoughts like it did my own?

"When I was fourteen, I started reading the Bible a lot, I had some questions about Why Am I Here? What Is My Purpose? And the more I read the Bible, it made sense to me and a lot of things became clear.

My interest in abortion started when my little sister was born and I held her in my arms, it hit me-How can people kill these children? She was the same to me outside of the womb as she was inside, a little, innocent child, dependant on us all for her survival, and I couldn't understand how these doctors could do that.

I started studying anti-abortion on the internet and at the same time I was interested in the military. My friend and I agreed that after graduation, we were going to go into the Marines. I became interested in making guns and learning how to make pipe bombs.

I studied the abortion issue for the past two years and developed a list of doctors that I planned to kill-in order to save who knows how many children's lives. I did not look at killing abortion doctors as murder-I looked at it as stopping them from murdering little, innocent children. I saved the list and several related files on my computer.

I also wanted to stop pedophiles, and needed to find out who the BIG people were in the industry, so that I could stop them too. That's why I downloaded and looked at those child pornography sites, to find out who these people were-I am totally against harming children in any way.

The more I read the Bible, the more I realized that I was a Soldier of God and that it was my purpose to save these children, and I was prepared to go to prison for the rest of my life or die for that cause. Every day and year that I wait, more children would die and I felt that if I got caught after I stopped the first one and went to prison forever, it would be worth it, knowing that I saved the lives of other children.

I also became worried that John Kerry may be elected and because of his stand on the Right To Life issue, I also planned to kill him too, if he became elected. I studied these things, but I wasn't on my computer all day or anything, I don't think I was obsessed with it."

© Copyright 2006 gentlefootprint. All Rights Reserved.

Emotional Healing

One of the reasons I stopped watching shows like Dr. Phil is because they reduce problem solving to following the 2 or 3 easy steps that make up their latest "strategy." While I do not doubt the merit of their intentions, problems aren't always easily categorized. Life is often times complicated and messy. It is never "one size fits all." What may work to resolve issues for a majority of people may not work for me.

It is essential that I never stop believing in myself. No matter how heavy the weight I carry on my shoulders, how troubling the burden, I cannot focus on it without also recognizing that at that very moment I am carrying it! Probably the most important lesson in life I have ever learned is that I am a survivor. No matter how scarey or hopeless or overwhelming or troubling the life circumstances I face, there will eventually come a time when I can look back and say I overcame the obstacles.

Like broken bones, emotional brokeness can take a long, long time to mend. Sometimes there are setbacks. Once in a while a broken bone may even need to be reset in order to heal properly. Feelings are far more fragile than bones. There aren't "casts" or "slings" or "crutches" that I can put on my broken feelings or the scars on my spirit.

Probably more important in the healing process than listening to the most well-intended advice of others is to keep talking about my suffering. Emotional healing is kind of like a foul-smelling room. I have to clean things up and open the windows to get rid of the odor before the room will be clean and fresh again. Talking through my pain and suffering opens the windows and cleans my insides getting rid of the effects of the dark times in my life. When I get cut, I bleed. The bleeding is what cleans the wound and paves the way for the cut to heal. Crying is the way my feelings bleed. It's okay to cry until I can't cry any more.

© Copyright 2006 gentlefootprint. All Rights Reserved.

Called

Prior to entering the seminary and throughout the course of my studies for the priesthood, my focus was that of discernment, of listening intently for God's voice and trying to determine to what that voice was calling me and where that voice was leading me. The lifestyle of a seminarian allowed me to filter out much of the noise and clutter that bring daily distractions preventing God's voice from being heard. I found that as long as I remained intimately connected to that voice life's journey was never void of meaning and purpose.

Discernment never stops. That voice continues to call me in ever new and often times unexpected ways. Gone are the days when I enjoyed a lifestyle that filtered out the distractions. Now I must listen intently for the voice amidst the day-to-day chaos that is life.

© Copyright 2006 gentlefootprint. All Rights Reserved.