Stefanie Rengel was an active 14-year-old with a sunny personality who made friends easily. She was caring and generous with her time, helping out in her church Sunday School. She was brutally murdered two years ago at the instigation of a jealous girl in her school who has now been identified as Melissa Todorovic (pictured above.) She convinced her boyfriend to actually kill Stefanie but earlier this week she too was convicted of murder and was sentenced as an adult. Todorovic has shown no remorse through her assessment and trial, no recognition of committing a heinous crime against an innocent victim. Stefanie's younger brother Ian read a statement after the verdict:
We are relieved with the ruling for an adult sentence and we appreciate the difficult decision that Judge Nordheimer faced. Melissa Todorovic is a disturbed individual who needs all the help our system has to offer," he said, flanked by his parents. We pray that she benefits from all the services now available to her and can grow to heal and become a balanced and rational member of society.
It was really a gracious statement given the impact on the family but I wonder if there really are the services necessary for Todorovic to being the reform she so badly needs and in which she must actively participate.
On Sunday morning CBC radio did a piece on the penitentiary museum in Kingston. The curator pointed out that Canadian prisons of the 19th century were supposedly designed as places of penitence, of turning over a new leaf. Prisoners were encouraged to go about their days in silence to contemplate their wrongdoing and seek out a different life path. During my student internship at Kingston Pen, a maximum security facility, I never confused this prison with the monasteries I am wont to visit. It was a harsh and sometimes brutal place with little help for those who may have desired change.
Ultimately Ms. Todorovic will be required to deal with the evil in which she participated. Let's pray that the Rengel family's hope for rehabilitation is realized.
I just don't know if the U.S. or Canadian justice system is capable of the reform and healing that is needed for people who enter the doors of penitentiaries. I have heard a bit about restorative justice and that sounds to me like a good method of addressing both the needs of the victim and the perpetrator, but I also know that no system is perfect and that different methods work for different people.
ReplyDeleteI pray that both the family of Stephanie and the young woman and her boyfriend who caused such pain can find healing and forgiveness.
Prisons certainly seem to be geared toward punishment rather than penitence and restoration.
ReplyDeleteThe United States and Canada both have higher rates of incarceration than other developed nations and it sure doesn't seem to be a deterrent.
Our system also seems inherently racist. I was shocked to hear recently that one of every nine black men in America is in jail. In Canada aboriginal people are highly over-represented.